Crepe myrtles are the small flowering trees and shrubs of the genus Lagerstroemia, the signature summer bloom of the Southern landscape. Through the long heat of July and August, when most trees are simply enduring, they cover themselves in crinkled, crepe-textured flowers, white and pink through watermelon and deep red. When the bloom finally fades, sculptural, exfoliating bark and warm fall color carry the plant on through the cooler months.

In the landscape crepe myrtles are versatile and hard-working. Grown as multi-stemmed small trees they line drives and frame houses; the compact kinds fill borders and containers; and all of them thrive in the heat and sun that flatten other flowering plants. Chosen for the right mature size and left to grow their graceful, vase-shaped form, they need none of the harsh topping so often, and so needlessly, inflicted on them.

We grow crepe myrtles for their unmatched summer color and their toughness in a hot climate. Few plants flower so long, so freely, and so reliably through Southern heat and drought, and the year-round appeal of the bark and fall color means a crepe myrtle earns a place well beyond the blooming weeks. For summer-long flower on an easy, sun-loving tree, little else compares.

Give them full sun and reasonable drainage, choose a variety sized to fit the spot so hard pruning is never needed, and enjoy the show. Set them among our Sun Lovers and Drought-Tolerant Plants, and pair with the framework of our Canopy Trees.