Gulf Hills Garden Clubs Presentation of Lagerstroemia Indica AKA Crepe Myrtle

Lagerstroemia  Indica or Crepe Myrtle as it is commonly referred, was originally native to the East Indian subcontinent, South East Asia, Northern Australia, and parts of Oceania.  The genus is named after the 18th cent Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström, who supplied Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus with plants.

First imported to England from China in 1759.  Unfortunately, it was discovered that this plant would not easily bloom in England, due to the cooler climate.  André Michaux plant explorer and botanist to King Louis XVI  introduced both the Crepe Myrtle and the Camellia here in America at Charleston, South Carolina, around the mid 18th century.  The exact is disputed by sources, but some say 1747, others 1786, but it's enough for this article that it was mid to late 18th century.

Crepe Myrtle was an immediate hit early on here in the southern part of the United States!  It did not take very long before plants were being off loaded on ships in the harbors of Mobile and New Orleans.  It spread to gardens throughout the south very quickly.  The early appearance Crepe Myrtle in the deep south makes this a very traditional southern heirloom garden plant. So remember that Crepe Myrtle is perfect for almost any period Southern garden.

A funny aside for me, is that I always thought that many Crepe Myrtle had been named after Southern towns. Catawba, Biloxi, Natchez, Osage, Miami , etc.  It seems that the Latin name Lagerstroemia Indica may have been misunderstood by some and hybrids of this plant were named after Native American tribes, to include Arapaho, Chickasaw, Pecos, Seminole, Sioux, and Zuni
There are about 50 species  mostly deciduous and even a  few evergreen, trees and shrubs.  Some may grow up to 30 ft tall full size trees and others can stay under 1 ft in height and they come in every size in between.

Typical size categorizes are:

Very Dwarf ; 1 - 2 feet Mature Height,
Chickasaw

Dwarf; 3 - 6 feet Mature Height,
Bourbon Street

Semi-Dwarf; 5 - 12 feet Mature Height,

Acoma

Small Tree; 10 - 20 feet Mature Height,
Near East

Tree; 20 + feet Mature Height,
Biloxi

Average Water Needs; Water regularly; do not over water. Once established they are not very demanding with the water.
Unlike the azalea, camellia, and gardenia, which pine for acid soil, crepe myrtle are not fussy about soil and will flourishes in just about any type.

No wonder it ranks as the South’s most popular (and desirable) ornamental tree.
There are a number of good articles on the Southern Living.com website.

The Texas A&M University Horticulture website has a lot of extremely useful information about Characteristics of Crape Myrtle Varieties

I hope this quick article( an excerpt from a presentation at our last meeting)from the Gulf Hills Garden Club will be helpful to gardeners and that the Crepe Myrtle will continue to be a standard plant in traditional southern gardens.