Purple Crape Myrtle Shrub

The Purple Crape Myrtle shrub (Lagerstroemia indica 'Purpurea') is a deciduous shrub that provides a delightful purple color all summer long! The best feature of this Crape Myrtle is certainly the impressive purple display it enacts each year. Beginning in early summer and continuing into the fall, this Crape Myrtle variety will dazzle you with its purple blossoms that appear in large clusters at the tips of its branches.

When the crepe-like flowers fall, the brown capsules of the fruit remain, providing another decorative feature of the plant for winter interest. Hummingbirds, dragonflies, and butterflies will love your yard, but you won't have to worry about deer having the same interest.

Even the leaves start out as a charming bronze in the spring. They then transition into a verdant green that endures throughout the summer months. When fall arrives your Myrtle will once again immerse itself in color as its leaves transform into brilliant reds and yellows.

You'll love how the Crape Myrtle seems to be always awash in color! Hardy throughout USDA growing zones 6 to 10, there is little that will faze these 10-20 feet tall, but only 6-8 feet wide, making it almost a columnar Crape Myrtle!

Planting and Application:

Plant one in your ornamental bed or anywhere you'd enjoy enduring color. There are many ways to use Crape Myrtles around your yard. Grow a single plant as a beautiful specimen. It's also easy to grow Crape Myrtles as a large shrub to accent a part of your landscape. Use one at the corner of your house to anchor your foundation planting.

Create an effortlessly chic display with a series of matching large containers running the length of your patio. Add brightness to your Cottage gardens and create a gorgeous focal point in your front landscaping beds! Crapes combine well with other colors. Why not try a lovely collection of several varieties from Nature Hills?

Enjoy the summer foliage for its beauty, and its small-footprint screening power. Who couldn't use a little more privacy? These make the most amazing living fences around your pool deck! Keep the lowest limbs on and let it grow out as a large, shrubby privacy screen. Add a pop of color to your pool deck with several Crape Myrtles in a gorgeous lineup.

Try it as a small tree near your patio seating. March a gracious row of these along your front sidewalk. Keep them large, and use them as a slim backdrop in your garden border. Create a hedge with several of them planted in a row as backdrops and as a pretty barrier along your property line. Please note that you can keep them trimmed as low as you'd like. Go big, or keep them waist-high with a quick clip in the late winter. For a hedge, plant 4 feet apart on center. You'll measure from the center of one to the center of the next.

• Dramatic Purple Crepey Blooms
• Tall & Narrow Shrub Form
• Butterfly & Hummingbird Magnet!
• Attractive Bark & Ornamental Seed Pods for Winter
• Use in Large Containers, Hedges, Specimens & Landscape Accents

#ProPlantTips for Care:

Easy care Crape Myrtle lets you enjoy some summer downtime. The most important thing is to give it full sun, at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. The more sun, the more flowers!

Try to give Crape Myrtle a planting site with good air circulation and direct sunlight in the morning to improve its ability to be resistant to powdery mildew. Use drip irrigation, too, not overhead lawn sprinklers. Crape Myrtles perform best in well-drained soils.

Give Crape Myrtles a moderate amount of water on a regular basis. Once their roots are established, they'll become drought-tolerant. However, you'll really see the best flowering with an even amount of water. Spruce up your plantings with a 3-4 inch layer of mulch. Pull it back from around the trunk, but be liberal in the amount you use. Plants love mulch covering their root systems. It also ties the look of your planting together.

You can prune to the correct shape before it starts growing in late winter or very early spring. During the growing season, this deciduous shrub produces clusters of charmingly frilly flowers that last for months. If they begin to fade, feel free to deadhead spent blooms, they will likely rebloom for you!

• Fast Growing In Full Sun
• Drought Tolerant Once Established - Water New Plants Regularly
• Can Be Pruned to Any Height in Spring
• Widely Adaptable To Any Well-Drained Soil
• Deer Don't Prefer the Taste

The Purple Crape Myrtle has something to offer whatever the season, and it will certainly offer you enjoyment for years to come. Order one for your garden today from Nature Hills!