Lagerstroemia indica Petite Canaille mauve - Crape Myrtle

Lagerstroemia indica 'Petite Canaille' mauve, also known as Indian Lilac or Summer Lilac, is an adorable deciduous and hardy bush that will charm you with its very dense and compact habit, its beautiful red marbled bark, but above all, its abundant summer flowering in mauve, harmoniously distributed among the foliage. Eager for sun and heat, it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful summer-flowering bushes. With a modest size, which it compensates with a strong presence, it is ideal for small gardens or container gardening.

Lagerstroemia indica 'Petite Canaille' mauve belongs to the Lythraceae family. Lagerstroemia indica, from which it originates, is native to China. This bush has a low, bushy and ramified habit, with a rounded crown. It will reach 1 m (3ft) in height at maturity, with a diameter of 90 cm (35in). Its growth is quite rapid. It chooses the month of July to start its flowering, which will continue until October. The flowers are characterized by thin pedicels each carrying five undulate-edged petals that make up this flower. The flowers, whose texture resembles that of crepe paper, are gathered in short, dense, abundant thyrses at the ends of the branches of the year. In 'Petite Canaille' mauve, the buds open into a light mauve colour. The deciduous foliage is dark green. It is composed of small ovate leaves, which sometimes take on pretty yellow or red hues in autumn, depending on the climate. Finally, its bark is beautiful, smooth, striated in various shades of red, peeling off in coloured patches (dull red, old pink, cream).

Indian Lilacs are the pride of gardens in the Southwest. Preferring the humid and warm Atlantic to the dry and windy Mediterranean, it is a small tree that deserves to be acclimated in the colder areas of our region, by carefully choosing its location. Its hardiness and vigour allow it. It is when isolated, near the house, that you can fully enjoy its generosity. It will look good in a shrub bed, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a mound of perennials. Create a pastel bed like a bouquet, with Campanula pyramidalis, Salvia sclarea, Aster laevis. In autumn, it accompanies the asters, as colourful as itself. In a large pot on the terrace, it becomes a spectacle while summer flowering fades. You could assemble a weaving of thymes, oreganos, and silver baskets to dress the base of its trunk, emphasize its bark, and reflect its sparkling flowering.

NB: Karl Von Linné named this tree in tribute to his friend Magnus Von Lagestroem, who had sent it to him from India for identification. Originally, this tree was used to decorate Chinese temples. We would like to point out that this tree produces fruits that have a narcotic effect if ingested. The wood, marketed under the name 'bungur', is red, very strong, and rot-resistant. It is used in marquetry, cabinetmaking, or for the manufacture of railway sleepers.