Here in the Napa/Sonoma area the Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia) is one of the most common,and most beautiful street trees. They are seldom grown in Monterey/Santa Cruz areas because of their mildew problem. There is now available a mildew resistant series recognized by being named after Indian tribes. In much of the area where MBMGs garden I believe these could be grown without problem.  Most people only know of Crape Myrtles by their flowers, so I thought you might enjoy the fall colors.

Some of the mildew resistant Crape Myrtles are Acoma, Catawba, Cherokee, Comanche, Hopi, Natchez, Okmulgee, Pecos, Seminole, Sioux, Tuskegee, Wichita, Zuni.