Question
One crepe myrtle has white egg-shaped stuff all over the stem parts of the tree--there is a small bit of powdery looking stuff on a leaf or two. I did see lots of ants running up and down the tree.
What is this and what is the best way to treat it please?

Answer
Dear Barbara, Sorry for the delay in getting to you, but I also live in Texas and have been painting my house this week.  Anyway, not to worry, because crape myrtles are pretty easy to cure.  What you have is scale, a non-moving insect that attaches itself to the stems and sometimes leaves of plants and sucks out the juices.  That is the white egg-shaped part.  Now the powdery looking stuff - is it like a white film, or is it cottony and moving?  I am thinking you probably have the film which is powdery mildew.  The cottony moving stuff would be mealybugs which is the only moving form of scale.  The ants are there to get the honeydew excreted by the scale.  Fortunately one remedy will take care of both the scale and the powdery mildew.  You need to spray the tree with a lightweight horticultural oil.  Use SunSpray if you can find it, or you can use one of the biorganic oils.  Spray the entire tree and be sure to spray up under the leaves and all over the stems and trunk.  You will need to spray the tree several times about a week apart to kill off all the scale but this method will work.  You will know that the scale are dead when a moderate stream of water from a hose will dislodge them.  Most insecticides won't work on scale, because the hard shell like covering protects them from the chemicals, but the oil smothers them.  The ants will leave when the scale is gone, or you can put out Spinosad granules (organic ingredient kills just about any bad bug and the granules are great against fire ants) for any that are still in the area.  I hope this information helps, but write back if you have more questions.  Good luck, Melissa