Flower of the Week: Crape Myrtle

During the summer months, some of the best landscape color is provided by crape myrtles. Few landscape plants can match their long-lasting floral display and the wide array of colors available, providing 120 days of color!

The following post was submitted by  staff member Maggie Wiles.

Most species of Lagerstroemia have sinewy, fluted stems and branches with a mottled appearance that arises from having bark that sheds throughout the year. Flowers are born in midsummer into the fall in panicles of crinkled flowers with a crepe-like texture. Colors vary from deep purple to red to white, with almost every shade in between.

Today it is possible to find crape myrtles to fill every landscape need, from tidy street trees to dense barrier hedges all the way down to fast-growing dwarf types of less than two feet. 

When selecting a crape myrtle, think about the flower color and ultimate size first. Unfortunately, many crape myrtle varieties have been mismatched for the spots they have been planted in. When they grow too large, there is an increased temptation to commit the horticultural malpractice of crape murder— the severe pruning of crape myrtle during the winter that leaves unsightly stubs after they have been topped.

A crape myrtle will be most attractive if it receives minimal pruning, which gives a natural form that is aesthetically pleasing, even in the winter when they are leafless.

Crape myrtles need full sun for best flowering and are drought-tolerant once established. Crape myrtle root systems grow best in well-aerated soil or near the soil surface, as plant growth, flowering, and vigor are reduced when root systems are planted below the soil level or in wet, poorly drained soils.