Plantidote of the Day 2012-08-27 UPDATED!!
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Lagerstroemia indica
Crape myrtle
Very much in bloom here in Zone 10. These trees are quite common here in LA, the pink ones especially, but there are also white and lavender varieties. Crape myrtles are deciduous trees, which the Sunset garden book describes as having a "very attractive trunk and branch pattern." The trees bloom from July to September.
Crape myrtles like full sun and occasional watering, but they are drought tolerant. Best suited to zones 7, 8, and 9, but, according to HGTV, they can be grown in Zone 6 with some modifications. More information here.
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Comments
I'm pretty sure
that's a wisteria.
Beautiful flowers, and it comes in other colors like pale pink and white. There's lots of them around where I live.
Definitely not wisteria
Could it be crape myrtle (lagerstroema)?
I'm with jerztomato...
That is definitely a Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia)
They make really good small trees and have the most beautiful bark, especially in winter after all the leaves drop. They are deep rooted and very drought tolerant.
I've seen them in colder climates as well as our warm #9 zone.
A lot of crape myrtles
are hardy to zone 6, but you have to take other factors into consideration too. My garden is zone 7b-8a, but the summers are too cool to get them to bloom very much.
Crepe Myrtle!!!
Hey I was gonna post a white one. Lemme find it.
Here it is
Not the best pic, and it was only half in bloom so I was waiting to see if it would be more full this week.
Yay! Crape myrtle it is, hat tips all around
and thanks for the white version, kath -- I was just going to look see if there was a white variety, because those are in bloom here, too, but I hadn't gotten close enough to tell if they were the same. Also a pale lavender that looks almost like lilacs.
These are such gorgeous trees, especially now that nothing else is in bloom. Updating the story shortly ....
That shows
how much I (don't) know.
You and me, both Scoff!
n/t
Crapes
They are just beautiful, when I lived in Texas they were everywhere. In the heat they thrive, drought resistant, they can be trimmed and trained into lovely forms and they bloom mid to late summer. In Tallahassee they line the streets. White, pinks from pale to hot, purples from lavender to deep violet.
Just an outstanding southern tree. Here in Jersey, as Jerz said, it is sometimes too cool for them to bloom until late in the year and then they will get frosted and the buds will fall. But sometimes it gets just right. I'll have to check the white one tomorrow and see.