FLIMBY: Crape myrtles, Sacramento’s unofficial tree of summer

This is another installment in our Flowers in My Back Yard series, dedicated to blooming plants.

Look down almost any suburban Sacramento street in August and you’ll see bright bursts of pink, purple and red overhead – and on the ground.

It’s crape myrtle season and those ubiquitous flowers seem to be everywhere (especially if you parked under a tree). These colorful small trees tend to shed their flowers almost as quickly as they open, showering the ground (or vehicles) with neon-hued petals.

With fluffy, crepe-like texture, those flowers make up for the messiness. Crape myrtles bloom during late summer when few other trees or large shrubs are in flower. Bees love them. Songbirds also benefit; crape myrtles are a favorite habitat.

Native to subtropical Asia (and India, in particular), Lagerstroemia indica has been growing strong on this continent for more than 250 years. Before the American Revolution, British colonists introduced it to the Carolinas, where it earned the nickname “Lilac of the South.”

Crape myrtles (also known as crapemyrtles or crepe myrtles) need high heat to fully flower. Midsummer temperatures trigger their bloom. Heat also has its benefits for these popular plants. Temperatures over 90 degrees can kill (or at least slow down) powdery mildew, the most common problem with older varieties.

Crape myrtles bloom on new wood and range in size from 2 feet tall (as a dwarf shrub) to more than 20 feet tall and wide as a graceful vase-shaped tree. On smaller specimens, pruning off spent flower clusters can prompt a second wave of blooms in fall.

Not all Sacramentans love crape myrtles (as mentioned, they are messy). But others adore these interesting plants. Besides the wave of summer flowers, crape myrtles offer colorful fall foliage. In winter with bare branches, their jigsaw-like bark adds more visual interest.

Crape myrtles can tolerate both wet and dry conditions, making them very resilient. In the Southeast, they’re deluged by rain. In Sacramento, they can take dry heat. Once established, they’re remarkably drought tolerant. Ideally, they need something in the middle – weekly or twice monthly deep watering.

They put up with a wide range of soil types, too, including clay. They’re also cold tolerant, thriving in Zones 5 to 9. The two things they demand – good drainage and plenty of sun.

Because crape myrtles are so widely grown, the U.S. National Arboretum created new varieties that are resistant to powdery mildew. Crossed with L. fauriei (a close cousin from Japan), these hybrids are named for Native American tribes. For example, ‘Natchez’ has pure white blooms with cinnamon bark and bright orange fall foliage. ‘Muskogee’ offers light lavender-pink blooms and smooth gray bark.

Besides its use as a specimen tree, crape myrtle can make a handsome hedge, especially the dwarf varieties.

Since these plants bloom on new wood, pruning guarantees crape myrtles will bloom summer after summer. Pruning is best done when the trees are dormant, November to February. And that brings up the biggest divide among crape myrtle fans: How to prune?

Fast growing, crape myrtles will tolerate all sorts of abusive pruning. That includes pollard pruning, aka “crape murder.”

A centuries-old technique (and how crape myrtles have been traditionally grown), branches are pruned hard in winter, back to the main framework of limbs (sometimes all the way back to the main trunk). This creates “pollard heads’’ – swollen knobs that look like knuckles. These heads produce dense clusters of flowering stems – sort of a witch’s broom of bright blooms.

It’s a lot of work (another downside to crape myrtles), but produces masses of color in a distinctive ball shape.

Left on their own, crape myrtles will grow gracefully – and still bloom – without getting “murdered” each winter. They’ll tend to be taller and their flowers less profuse, but the tree will be happier – and likely longer lived.

Some communities have truly embraced their crape myrtles – and grow even more than Sacramento. That includes McKinney, Texas – “America’s Crape Myrtle City.” It celebrates its favorite flowering tree each summer with an official tour. Its website also offers a wealth of crape myrtle advice and information including dozens of varieties. Find it here: https://crapemyrtletrails.org/