Crapemyrtle

One of my favorite plant genus names is Lagerstroemia. It belongs to crapemyrtle (i.e., created and assigned by humans, the plant couldn't care less). I have commented elsewhere on the spelling of the common name for this plant, but for convenience will repeat my comments here. I follow the lead and rationale posited by the great Michael Dirr. Since Lagerstroemia is not a true myrtle (Myrtaceae) the name should either be hyphenated or connected into a single word -- crape-myrtle or crapemyrtle -- to do otherwise conveys false connection. Another example of this potential confusion is boxelder or box-elder which is not an elder.

Lagerstroemia indica is commonly employed as an ornamental, especially in the south. In fact, it sometimes is called "Lilac of the South" which seems an ignorant moniker since unlike most lilacs, crapemyrtles are scentless. Lovely, but scentless, and bloom in another season. A better comparison name would be with the paniculate hydrangeas. Crapemyrtles are deciduous woody plants -- native to China, not that it matters -- that flower in late summer into fall. The flowers, which are produced in beautiful large plumes, come in many colors. If you choose to add it to your garden, select a site with full sun. I have found that they are very tolerant as regards soil type and hydration.

Almost all varieties of crapes are hardy north to Indianapolis and beyond, but in many winters some or all the above ground portion can be killed. Thus the specimens often ends up here being a dieback shrub much like Callicarpa (beauty bush) or Lespedeza capitata (bush clover). Besides not being able to reach tree size in the north, because of the dieback, they rarely get wood old enough to feature the wonderful peeling bark. My approach to keeping some above ground tissue alive is to provide some winter protection by piling a wheelbarrow or two of shredded leaves on each specimen about Thanksgiving. Once winter has passed I gather and reuse the leaves for mulch. In spring, as soon as the specimen starts to throw new leaves, I prune back to remove the dead portion. Some gardeners simply chose to cut the plants back to near ground level. Since crapemyrtle flowers are produced in late summer on new wood it also can be pruned in the spring of that growing season. I do it my way in order to allow the specimens to be as tall as possible that year, sometimes increasing the height at which the flowers are displayed by as much as two or more feet. I occasionally see crapes used in Indianapolis (I have five at my place). I have room for more but my thin billfold helps me say say no more easily, and five is enough since I want as much diversity as possible. My friends Lisa and Dan Burnham, who live in the country north of Bloomington, have four dozen specimens representing 10+ varieties on their large spread. There are quite a few dwarf varieties which is what I would recommend since you will not get the small tree look in central Indiana -- as I stated earlier, rarely more than a shrub here.

One of the often overlooked attributes of crapes is the excellent fall leaf coloration. One of my favorites is this regard is the dwarf cultivar 'Cherry Mocha' (see pic) whose leaves turn bright red in fall. There are even some cultivars with nearly black leaves during the growing season. While we are discussing leaves, crapes are a favorite of Japanese beetles. There will be leaf damage, more or less depending on the severity of the beetles that year. Crapes vie with evening primrose, grape and roses as the beetle's fav.

Soules Garden brought in about two dozen specimens of 'Cherry Mocha' several years ago but almost could not give them away even though the plants were underpriced. Why? Because we, and especially central Indiana, are NOT a gardening society! People don't know and they believe the spewed misinformation. Crapemyrtles are hard to find in central Indiana garden centers because (1) the people doing the ordering do not know (follow the mistaken advice/presumption) that crapes are not hardy here (i.e., survive overwinter outside), (2) because the garden center staff may not be experienced gardeners (again, they don't know), (3) because the customers are lazy (don't want to attend to the late spring pruning) and/or ignore advice, and (4). the sales people and owners do not want to field the complaints when the customers seek a replacement or their money back. Sounds mean but I heard it myself for years. Moreover, as the climate continues to warm, the Midwest will become even more hospitable for crapes, perhaps facilitating more success with the non-dwarf varieties and with less resulting winter dieback, but with corresponding damage / loss in many other ways.

I offer the following to drive home the point that we are NOT a gardening community/society, [Brace yourself, this is full strength Mad Botanist rambling rant] I have been offering gardening classes at my Indianapolis property on an occasional basis over the last decade in an attempt to promote gardening as well as an appreciation of natural history. But, despite the fact these classes are a rare, unique and phenomenal opportunity to learn about techniques and unfamiliar plants from a damn good botanist and gardener, with over half a century of experience, only 76 different people have taken a class out of a surrounding population of two million. Moreover, I typically prepared and served some tasty food and beverage during the break in the three-hour sessions, plus all that I offer on this website gratis. I find this reality both sad and pathetic. The interest, I should say lack of same, often has me so despondent, perplexed and just plain pissed that I have seriously considered completely withdrawing, no longer wanting to help. It certainly would be much earlier for me just to stop doing so. Part of the problem is that (1) too large a percentage of the population are lazy lardass sheeple and corporate pawns, more concerned with their sports team and conveniences than the natural world, (2) there is a huge difference between being a gardener and decorating with plants (most of those who call themselves gardeners do not have what I would call a real garden), and (3) while probably not unique to gardening, unfortunately way too many "gardeners", of which there are far too few, are no where near as talented/good as they seem to presume (illusory superiority). This is where YouTube's Joey Santore (Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't) would say, now go fuck off. Yet, even with that kind of abrassive public vulgarity he has 300,000+ followers. Go figure. I am not suggesting censorship. We can do that by simply ignoring/boycotting. -- In my drafts I often get this direct but either remove or dilute before posting. I thought this would be a good time to put the raw form out there for consumption. Get it out of my system. And know this, sheeple are change averse -- it usually must be forced. BTW, the term for fear of change is metathesiophobia. It is common.

Bottomline: if you have a sunny spot and want a colorful late season woody beauty to add to your spread, consider a crapemyrtle.