Lagerstroemia indica Violacea - Crape Myrtle

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Violacea' is a beautifully sized, hardy Indian Lilac, offering abundant light violet summer flowering. While it naturally forms a small tree, it will willingly adapt to other uses; regularly pruned, it will become a large bush, patiently and meticulously pruned, it will grow on a trunk. It also charms with its dark, glossy foliage that colours in the autumn and its decorative bark. Sun and heat-loving, resilient and with multiple assets, the Indian lilacs are among the most beautiful bushes with summer flowering. As such, they deserve a prime spot in the garden or on the terrace.

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Violacea' is a relatively old cultivar, quite difficult to find in horticultural commerce, probably forgotten in favour of modern cultivars, despite its beautiful presence in the garden. It is a small tree or a large bush of the Lythraceae family, native to China. It has a bushy and ramified habit, with a rounded crown. It will reach on average 4m (13 ft 1 in) in height at ripeness, with a span of 3m (9 ft 10 in). Its growth is quite rapid. It needs warmth to flower and chooses the month of July to start its flowering, which will continue until October. The flowers are characterized by thin pedicels each carrying five petals with undulate edges that compose this flower. The flowers, whose texture recalls that of crepe, are gathered in large, dense panicles, at the end of the year's branches. In 'Violacea', the buds are purple-red, then they bloom into intense mauve with yellow stamens and fade to white. The foliage, leathery and deciduous, is born red, then becomes dark green and shiny. It is made up of small ovate leaves, which sometimes take on pretty yellow or red shades in the autumn, depending on the climate. Finally, its beautiful bark is smooth, beige striate with brown-red, flaking in coloured plates (cinnamon, faded red, old rose, cream).

The Indian Lilacs are the glory of the gardens of the South-West. This tree prefers humid and warm climates. It is a small tree that deserves to be acclimatized in the colder zones, providing the location is carefully chosen. Its hardiness and vigour allow it. It is isolated, near the house, that you will be able to fully enjoy this plant's generosity. It will look good in a bush bed, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a mound of perennials. Compose a bed like a bouquet, with Artemisia Powis Castle, Campanula pyramidalis, Salvia sclarea, Aster laevis. In the autumn, it accompanies the aster, as colourful as itself. In a large pot on the terrace, it puts on a show when the summer flowers are flagging. We have simply imagined a tricolour vegetable tapestry as a ground cover to highlight the Summer Lilac 'Violacea'. A cradle of The Fairy roses and Valerie Finnis wormwood, punctuated with small tufts of lavender and red carnations will dress the base of its trunk, underline its bark and accompany its sparkling flowering.

The Indian lilac also has many other evocative and charming names: muslin flower, crepe myrtle, lagerose, Chinese crepe myrtle, crepe paper flower.

NB: Karl Von Linnaeus named this tree to honour his friend Magnus Von Lagestroem (1696 – 1759), 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 action if ingested.