If you plan ahead a bit when you buy crape myrtle, you can be successful with one of the prettiest additions to your garden you can make. These shrubs or small trees with charming crinkled flowers come in many varieties, sizes, and colors to fit southern and mid-Atlantic zones and any landscaping need.
The name comes from the appearance of the flowers, which resemble the delicate fabric known as crepe. They look like a puff of air would blow them away, but actually they are long-lasting. The lovely color lasts all summer and is becoming more and more familiar as new varieties are introduced that broaden the range where the plant does well.
Your planting zone will dictate which varieties you can plant. Fortunately, new imports and hybrids can grow farther north than used to be the case. These graceful and colorful treasures used to grow only in the far south, but now they are familiar in the mid-Atlantic region. Warm climate varieties were imported from India and southeastern Asia, but growers are now working with Chinese and Korean shrubs to supply a wider area.
Myrtles come in many sizes now, as new hybrids enter the marketplace. Dwarf varieties remain under two feet in height, while Japanese myrtles grow to thirty-foot tall trees with brilliant color and a pleasing vase shape. Growers have developed hedge plants as well.
In addition to being gorgeous, these shrubs are easy to care for. Pruning helps them produce more of their colorful blooms, and their slender branches are easy to handle with hand-held shears and loppers. Gardeners can choose to have a bushy shrub or one that consists of four to six upright limbs with suckers and laterals removed. It's easy to get the precise height and shape you want with early-spring trimming.
It's easy to find your planting zone in garden catalogs or by going online. Find varieties that thrive in your zone - or the one farther north if you want extra assurance of hardiness. Also consider things like mildew-resistant varieties, if this fungus is a problem in your yard. Myrtles like full sun and need at least six hours a day to thrive. Container plants are easy to transplant and should be acclimatized to outside temperatures by the retailer. To be sure, you can set them in a protected spot in your garden for a week or so before putting them in the ground.
Then it's time to visit the photo galleries to see the wide range of colors - white and all shades of pink, purple, and red. See how these shrubs can beautify any space. They look great up against a house, in the center of a circular drive, or out by the street. The blooms come on new growth, so these shrubs are easy for even novice gardeners to handle if grooming tasks are done at the right time of the year. If they are really happy, they'll have little crepe myrtles popping up around them in a few years.
When you buy crape myrtle plants with care, you'll be investing in a more beautiful garden for years to come. These shrubs are definitely one of the more rewarding plants available to today's gardeners.
The name comes from the appearance of the flowers, which resemble the delicate fabric known as crepe. They look like a puff of air would blow them away, but actually they are long-lasting. The lovely color lasts all summer and is becoming more and more familiar as new varieties are introduced that broaden the range where the plant does well.
Your planting zone will dictate which varieties you can plant. Fortunately, new imports and hybrids can grow farther north than used to be the case. These graceful and colorful treasures used to grow only in the far south, but now they are familiar in the mid-Atlantic region. Warm climate varieties were imported from India and southeastern Asia, but growers are now working with Chinese and Korean shrubs to supply a wider area.
Myrtles come in many sizes now, as new hybrids enter the marketplace. Dwarf varieties remain under two feet in height, while Japanese myrtles grow to thirty-foot tall trees with brilliant color and a pleasing vase shape. Growers have developed hedge plants as well.
In addition to being gorgeous, these shrubs are easy to care for. Pruning helps them produce more of their colorful blooms, and their slender branches are easy to handle with hand-held shears and loppers. Gardeners can choose to have a bushy shrub or one that consists of four to six upright limbs with suckers and laterals removed. It's easy to get the precise height and shape you want with early-spring trimming.
It's easy to find your planting zone in garden catalogs or by going online. Find varieties that thrive in your zone - or the one farther north if you want extra assurance of hardiness. Also consider things like mildew-resistant varieties, if this fungus is a problem in your yard. Myrtles like full sun and need at least six hours a day to thrive. Container plants are easy to transplant and should be acclimatized to outside temperatures by the retailer. To be sure, you can set them in a protected spot in your garden for a week or so before putting them in the ground.
Then it's time to visit the photo galleries to see the wide range of colors - white and all shades of pink, purple, and red. See how these shrubs can beautify any space. They look great up against a house, in the center of a circular drive, or out by the street. The blooms come on new growth, so these shrubs are easy for even novice gardeners to handle if grooming tasks are done at the right time of the year. If they are really happy, they'll have little crepe myrtles popping up around them in a few years.
When you buy crape myrtle plants with care, you'll be investing in a more beautiful garden for years to come. These shrubs are definitely one of the more rewarding plants available to today's gardeners.
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