Looks like I timed this rant perfectly. Actually that was dumb luck.
Trish, I had just written this when I listened to the podcast. I about fell out of my chair when Dave mentioned pruning crepe myrtles. He even used the word "rant." Great minds . . .
Clint, that's certainly an apt description. I lived in Alabama for six years and had crepe myrtles in my flower gardens. I now garden in zone 5 and just this past week discovered a new cultivar that is supposedly hardy to zone 5(b). I ordered it and will keep my fingers crossed that I don't commit crepe murder by exposing it to our sometimes very cold winters.