Lagerstroemia indica With Love Babe - Crape Myrtle

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Babe' ( also called 'Milaperl) is a pretty soft pink variety of the With Love series which brings together truly compact Indian lilacs with generous flowering, highly frost resistant, perfect for the decoration of pots and small gardens. This one bears numerous frothy clusters of shy pink, absolutely charming. Summer lilacs are also appreciated for their richly coloured bark, ornamental all year round, as well as their beautiful autumn colours. These bushes love heat, but appreciate a little coolness in summer to support their flowering. This one is easy to grow in various regions.

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Babe', recently obtained in Italy, is part of a series of hybrids carefully selected for their compactness, their precocity, their floribundus and their hardiness. The Indian lilacs 'With Love' come in pale pink (Babe), purple mauve (Eternal), bright pink (Girl), pure white (Virgin) and dark pink (Kiss).

The Indian lilac 'Babe with Love' belongs to the Lythraceae family, like the Lagerstroemia indica, from which it comes. Small in size, it will reach approximately 70 cm (27.6 in) in height and 40 cm (15.7 in) in width at maturity. Its growth is rather slow. It chooses the month of July to start its flowering, which will continue until September. The large inflorescences, in ramified clusters, are composed of very numerous small flowers borne on thin pedicels. Each flower has five very undulate petals, the texture of which resembles that of a crepe. They are gathered in large, dense panicles, at the end of the year's branches.

In 'Babe', the floral buds bloom generously into pale pink flowers that fade over the days, creating a subtle gradient of pastel tones on the scale of the bush. The foliage is born bronze in spring, then becomes deep green and glossy. It is composed of ovate leaves, which take orange or coppery shades in autumn, depending on the climate, before falling. Finally, and to finish in beauty, its bark is decorative: smooth, beige, striations with grey, red-brown, peeling off in coloured plates (cinnamon, faded red, old rose, cream).

Preferring the humid and hot southern Atlantic to the dry and windy Mediterranean, it nevertheless succeeds well on the Côte d'Azur provided it is watered in summer. This bush also deserves to be acclimatised in the colder areas of our country, by carefully choosing the variety - and Babe With Love is a good candidate for this. It is in isolation, near the house, that you will be able to fully enjoy its generosity. It will also look good in a bush grouping, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a mound of perennials. 'Babe With Love', having a pale flowering, you can associate it with plants with stronger colours, which will create pleasant contrasts of tones. Thus, the bright pink flowers of the Hibiscus syriacus Woodbridge will match well with hers, unless you want a stronger tone opposition, in which case the Buddleia davidii Masquerade will satisfy you. Not only will its long panicles of purple-violet flowers contrast well with the pale pink of our Lagerstroemia, but its yellow variegated foliage will create a beautiful opposition to the deep green of 'Babe With Love'. For those who like softness and romanticism, a beautiful duo can be formed by choosing the Lavatera Frederique, a beautiful shrubby Lavatera with white flowers slightly enhanced with pink in their heart.

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.