After a quick stop at Piggly Wiggly, I was driving north on the four-lane to make a run to Target, (not that I needed anything from there, but that red bulls eye somehow draws me in once a week or so and takes all my money), when low and behold — I almost ran off the road! Someone had pruned — no, mauled — the multitude of crepe myrtles at the Auburn University's Gulf Coast Research and Extension Center. It looked like a murder mystery, Green Acres style.

Sad brown trunks and brittle little twigs were knocked down, snapped in half and plowed under by a back-hoe. It looked like a miniature tornado had touched down in that small square of land, and it also reminded me I needed to schedule a bone density test.

Only months before, I had tried to stop and photograph the beautiful crepe myrtles in full bloom. But because there really isn't a good place to pause along Greeno Road without taking your life in your hands, I erred on the side of caution and never got the photo. It was the kind of beauty that had to be admired while zipping along at 50 miles an hour. OK — maybe 55.

I know Auburn's research center isn't here for our landscape enjoyment, but I particularly loved seeing the rows and rows of crepe myrtles all lined up every summer, bursting with every imaginable hue and tint of pinks, purples and whites.

Originally planted in 1999, the crepe myrtle field served as a testing area for disease control, fertilizing, bloom duration and overall growth patterns of the much-loved southern favorite.

Malcomb Pegues, Director of Auburn's Fairhope location, said 60 varieties of crepe myrtles were planted. Each variety was replicated 10 times, for a total of 600 trees in that particular field. I knew it was a lot of trees, but I didn't realize it was 600. Perhaps if I slowed down and drove the speed limit, I could have seen things more clearly.

Out-of-town visitors were always impressed with “our” crepe myrtle testing area. It was fun to show off this corner to prove we have a scientific, higher-education sort of appreciation for all our flowers. We aren't just a pretty face kind of town — we have brains, too.

I always thought if George Washington Carver had been interested in crepe myrtles instead of peanuts, he would have fit right in and studied here at the Auburn Station with the others who are part professors of agriculture and part Baldwin County farmers.

Although the tests on this army of trees ended a few years ago, Pegues said he didn't have the heart to remove them right away. He knew how much the public loved to look at the summer blooming trees. So for a while, he left them in place, giving us all a horticultural thrill.

The researchers even provided several opportunities for the public to tour the field on specially promoted open house days. Crowds of people would attend and listen as the experts explained the basics: “If you need a four foot tall crepe myrtle, don't buy one that grows 20 feet and keep chopping it off!”

But eventually, Auburn needed the space. There are other crops to be tested, after all. And sure enough, when the tractors finished clearing the area, Pegues reported that the phone started ringing. My goodness, how we cherish our flowers around here! (And we are just small-town enough to want to know everything that's going on).

But all ye who love plants, never fear. The space will now be used for more beneficial research — perhaps not as ornamental as crepe myrtles, but worthy, nonetheless. And if we don't watch it, I'm afraid they may just plant a big hedge around their property so we can't see what it is they are doing! Horror!

According to those who drive tractors with AU decals, soybeans and cotton will soon make an appearance, and the small eucalyptus trees that were recently planted on the corner section will be — get ready for this — removed, but then replanted. So don't panic; it's all part of a grand plan we are lucky enough to observe firsthand.

After 13 years of researching the flowering trees, the irony lies in what the Auburn Agriculture and Experimental Station's biggest discovery was during their experiments: don't prune your crepe myrtles. Just let them grow. Let them grow.

Except for testing purposes. Then, “Crepe Murder” is a defendable and justified offense: not guilty by reason of research.

Leslie Anne Harrison is a contributor at the Southern coterie website and local blog, Fairhope Supply Co., www.fairhopesupply.com.