Our Colors of Summer
July 30, 2007
As I was driving around this weekend, it struck me just how much color the crape myrtle trees add too our environment. Perhaps because we have had a hot spring and summer, these trees have thrived. To me they seemed larger, fuller and more vivid than I had remebered from past years. People tour the northeast to see the fall colors, right now, an easterner would probably be amazed to see these flowering trees that seem to be in almost every yard.
I did a little google research on "crape myrtle" or "crepe myrtle". Here is what I learned.
The deciduous crape myrtle is among the longest blooming tree in existance with flowering periods lasting from 60-120 days. Flowers are borne in summer in big, showy clusters and come in white, and many, many shades of pink, purple, lavender and red.
The origin of these trees is Asia and some articles were even more specific in citing China as the origin. The tree was first introduced in England and the United States in the eighteenth century, but is now cultivated throughout the world. It originally was a bush, but has been trained to become a tree. Even when its leaves have fallen, the smooth bark and branching limbs are an attractive sight in the winter landscape.
The crape myrtle belongs to the family "Lythraceae" They are relatively fast growing and they do put out seeds that you can find as "baby crapes" in the soil surrounding a mature tree or bush. If you are interested in adding crape myrtles to your landscape, summer is a good time to do so as you can pick the color when the plant is in bloom.
Enjoy these wonderful plants and thank your community leaders who selected the crape myrtle as a street tree.
As I was driving around this weekend, it struck me just how much color the crape myrtle trees add too our environment. Perhaps because we have had a hot spring and summer, these trees have thrived. To me they seemed larger, fuller and more vivid than I had remebered from past years. People tour the northeast to see the fall colors, right now, an easterner would probably be amazed to see these flowering trees that seem to be in almost every yard.
I did a little google research on "crape myrtle" or "crepe myrtle". Here is what I learned.
The deciduous crape myrtle is among the longest blooming tree in existance with flowering periods lasting from 60-120 days. Flowers are borne in summer in big, showy clusters and come in white, and many, many shades of pink, purple, lavender and red.
The origin of these trees is Asia and some articles were even more specific in citing China as the origin. The tree was first introduced in England and the United States in the eighteenth century, but is now cultivated throughout the world. It originally was a bush, but has been trained to become a tree. Even when its leaves have fallen, the smooth bark and branching limbs are an attractive sight in the winter landscape.
The crape myrtle belongs to the family "Lythraceae" They are relatively fast growing and they do put out seeds that you can find as "baby crapes" in the soil surrounding a mature tree or bush. If you are interested in adding crape myrtles to your landscape, summer is a good time to do so as you can pick the color when the plant is in bloom.
Enjoy these wonderful plants and thank your community leaders who selected the crape myrtle as a street tree.
posted by shirley harry at 7:36 AM
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