Our guide to Crepe Myrtle

Pictured above is Lagerstroemia 'Tuscarora'

Lagerstroemia is one of the best all-round performers you could plant in the landscape. And it offers something special in every season, making it attractive year-round. What makes each of them highly regarded is their prolific and intense flowering. All you need to do is choose one for height and colour. Here is a handy comparison guide to assist decision-making.

Common attributes:

• All are deciduous and V-shaped in form
• All are prolific flowerers
• Drought and heat tolerant
• Speciality Trees grow all with a strong single leader

From shortest to tallest:

This smallest in our group, ‘Tonto’ produces a spectacular flower display from mid-summer to early autumn and is most notably the darkest flower colour offered in our range. It has a beautiful growth habit with dark green leaves which change to various tones of orange before falling. Bark is a rich, brown colour with a lighter coloured under-bark, creating a mottled effect as the tree matures.

Slightly taller than ‘Tonto’ this tree produces eye-catching flower clusters from late summer to mid-autumn. With a compact growth habit and dark green foliage changing to multiple tones of orange before falling, it offers year-long landscape interest.

On a par in height with ‘Lipan’ is Lagerstroemia ‘Zuni’. Foliage has cute red tinges when young which mature to a shiny dark green and masses of violet/purple flower trusses appear from mid-summer through to autumn.  Autumn foliage provides a colourful display of oranges and reddish browns. Its bark provides further interest as it peels, creating a mottled effect on the trunk.

Lagerstroemia ‘Natchez’ is the easiest of the Indian Series to spot as it is the only white flowering Crepe Myrtle on offer.  It is also the tallest of the range. It begins flowering from mid-summer before dark green foliage transitions into a sequence of rich bronzes and reds before falling. Bark also provides colour as the tree matures, with its flakiness revealing the rich, brown under-bark.

Creating quite the visual impact over a lengthy period, this variety offers masses of intense, pink flowers from late summer, followed by stunning, rich foliage colour in tones of yellow, red and orange through autumn. When mature, the bark of this variety will peel, creating a mottled effect to reveal the beautiful caramel-pink colour of its underbark.

This deciduous tree has small oval-shaped green leaves which turn a stunning reddish/orange in autumn. The most striking part of the tree is the beautiful display of vibrant, hot pink, crinkled flowers which appear in late summer. Flowers form on new growth, and so are encouraged by winter pruning. Bark peels off to reveal a smooth trunk that is beige in colour with red-brown streaks.

Speciality Trees are here to assist you to find the right tree for your landscape and circumstances. For more information on any of these selections or to discuss others, please contact us. 

Availability of each selection is presented below: