Known as shrubs and trees that thrive in the Southern climates, Crepe Myrtle is absolutely beautiful and literally maintenance free. This very popular tree is native to Asia and was introduced to America in 1747. Its common American name can be spelled as crape myrtle or crepe myrtle and it is believed that it was named this way because the ruffled petals do resemble crepe paper. The wide assortment of various colors, coupled with a long flowering period have made the Crepe Myrtle an extremely sought out and must have in most Southern landscapes.

Because of its beauty, Crepe Myrtle breeding programs have been established in the US and Europe generating a wide range of plant sizes, various growth habits, different color flowers and fall foliage colors. As a result, there are approximately eighty different species in the botanical name of Lagerstroemia.

Crepe Myrtle can be described as a multi trunk medium to large shrub or tree. The trunks or stems are smooth, fluted like, pale brown with sort of like peeling bark. The leaves are green and oblong shaped and depending on the climate, the color of the leaves can turn to various hues. The flowers are ruffled and you can get red, white, lavender, and pink colors. The petals have broad fringed blades with their lower portions narrowed into long, slender claws.

There are several botanical names for Crepe Myrtle that go back in history but the Lagerstroemia is very popular and native to Asia, although popular also in India, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burma, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Japan, Philippines and Australia. One of the first species was Lagerstroemia Indica which was described by Charles Linnaeus in 1759 and he used the name Lagerstroemia in honor of his friend Magnus von Lagertroem who was an avid naturalist and director of the Swedish East Indies company.

Crepe Myrtle requires very little care but according to most gardeners, you should never prune them where you actually dehorn the plant. Cutting them too low actually stops the plant from flowering effectively. You can go ahead and remove dead flowers from the shrub or tree and this will enhance the flowering performance of the Crepe Myrtle. Just be careful and don’t go too low with your cutting.

The most common types of Crepe Myrtle that you can get at any local nursery are dark pink flower Miami and Tuscarora, red flower Tonto, lavender flower Muscogee, white flower Acoma and Natchez, pale pink flower Biloxi and bright pink flower Sioux. You can plant these in any type of soil but must be a sunny location and be sure to use some compost at planting time to hold the soil together for rapid growth.

Crepe Myrtle produce crepe like flowers all summer long and in the warmer climates it can go on blooming long after the fall season. Somehow, when I think about Crepe Myrtle, I envision warm summer days. And As I mentioned before, the flowers are beautiful and so is the tree or shrub in itself. It is just a very attractive plant that will add awesome beauty to any flower garden or landscape.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

Flower arranging encyclopedia topics | Reference.com
William Robinson: Definition from Answers.com
These authors cultivate a garden and a passion - USATODAY.com
High above Manhattan a vegetable garden grows – Eatocracy ...
Page 2: Wedding Flowers for GMA Couple - ABC News
Flower Gardening: Stephanotis or Madagascan Jasmine - YouTube

Technorati Tags: crepe myrtle, flower garden, flowering trees, garden trees, Gardening, Perennials

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 5:40 am and is filed under Flower Gardening, Gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.