Welcome to my blog where I write about gardening and plants, and cooking, some recipes and ideas, and a bit of a window into our new life in Cairns, Far North Queensland.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Largestroemia indica- Crepe Myrtle
In a few weeks in Melbourne the Crepe Myrtles will be out. They are a delightful burst of colour in the hottest part of summer and vary from white, pale pink and apricot to the hottest pink and red imaginable. In my short life i have seen these plants as large as a 5m and as small as prostrate ground covers. But to be honest why plant a ground cover when the tree is so absolutely divine. All year round.
Just in case you haven't gathered this is one of my all time favourite plants. Even when dormant in winter the smooth copper coloured bark is a focal point in any garden; in spring when the delicate foliage begins to return the contrast with the bark is just gorgeous and the flowers in summer are just to die for. Although not perfumed there is no mistaking the showy display this beautiful tree puts on no matter what the colour.
When ours does finally bloom I shall put show some pics of it however it has not yet reached the golden bark stage although i do live in hope that the flowers this year will be as abundant as they were last year! With any luck it will look something like this!
The bees and butterflies love them and then in Autumn they put on a splendid show of colour when the foliage turns red and orange before falling to the ground.
Largerstroemia is the ideal focal point for a small garden which gets lots of sun. They look beautiful pretty much all year round.
P.S. thanks to Flemings nursery for the photos.
Also in my garden at the moment i have several fuschias blooming at the moment . I have a friend who grew up in a Fuschia nursery so I will endeavour to have some information about growing them in the weeks to come.
I spoke of shadow and cooler climate plants last week so in an effort to get some more out there I think an article on fuschias is probably mandatory.
Meanwhile these are some of mine oh and please excuse the @#$@$@#$@$# weeds!
By the way.......any comments are good comments!!!
4 comments:
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Hi Serena, I'll keep an eye on your sight and see what's happening down under. Largestroemia are the epitome of Summer.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Correa Dusky Bells, Wow, great pic.
Rob
Apologies, I meant Site not sight- doh
ReplyDeleteOh, I loved crepe myrtles when I lived in California and miss them in cold Spokane. Enjoy them for me! Welcome to Blotanical - VW
ReplyDeleteMy all time favorite small tree, even more so than J. maples. I really like how the first pictures shows the crepes kind of topiaried to one stem. Very beautiful and unique.
ReplyDelete