I think I can stop waiting for that crape myrtle to finish budding, most likely 2/3rd of it is dead. Is it worth it to cut back the dead branches and hope for a recovery? I had this "great idea" about 4 years ago, I was going to make a huge garden and run a patio around it and thru it via walkway. Even took it on in phases. the corner backdrop of phase 1 was the crape myrtle, not to be outdone by my banshee rambling rose growing gracefully along the split rail fence that keeps the deer out. The rose also a backdrop (aka, the "i can't easily access them" plants)I've come to discover that half of my banshee rose is actually an imposter sticker bush that sprung up alongside the banshee with the sole purpose of robbing it of light and fence space!!! You know those monster, behemoth sticker bushes growing wild and rampant in new jersey, the one's you suspiciously look at when a neighbor's pet goes missing. I lost an arborvatea on one end as well this year, (also in the back of the garden, thank you). My solution for this guy is to patiently watch its needles fall while sipping my red wine on said patio, plotting what vine I shall plant next to it when it is all but a dead stump. I would like to thank my Italian mother-in-law for this wisdom, having watched her plant many an eggplant along the carcus of a fig tree, aka trellis. The next thing to die is going to be replaced with a fake plant or a garden statue (which will probably blow over). karen