Lagerstroemia 'BURGUNDY COTTON'® crepe myrtle
Symbivit Tric (arbuscular)
Symbivit (arbuscular)Lagerstroemia
The genus Lagerstroemia comprises roughly fifty species distributed from India across Southeast Asia to Australia, a region where tropical monsoons alternate with dry periods and where woody plants have had to adapt to sharp fluctuations in weather. It belongs to the family Lythraceae, known to botanists for the exotic pomegranate and our familiar purple loosestrife: plants with conspicuous flowers. In English the genus is known as the crape myrtle, a name referring to the crinkled, crepe‑like texture of its petals and the myrtle‑like appearance of its foliage. The first European description of the genus dates from 1759, when Carl Linnaeus named it in honour of the Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerstr�m (1696�1759). Lagerstr�m sent him plant specimens from his travels in Asia to Uppsala, then the centre of European botany, without realising that his name would one day be carried by one of the most beautiful ornamental trees of the subtropics. The most widespread species soon became Lagerstroemia indica, which, despite its specific epithet, does not originate from India but from China. From there it later spread to India, Persia and eventually the Ottoman Empire, where European travellers described it as �a tree with flowers like paper lace�, and gardeners gradually selected forms with increasingly showy and abundant blossom. Its cultural significance is considerable: in China it was planted near homes as a symbol of long life, in Korea as a tree of scholars, and in India as a plant of temple courtyards. What we today consider a crape myrtle in Europe and the USA is in fact the result of over two centuries of botanical exploration, travel stories and breeding experiments that began with a single parcel of herbarium specimens sent to Uppsala
Burgundy Cotton� crepe myrtle was bred by Dr.Carl Whitcomb, a breeder well-known for his achievements in the field of crossing hardy crepe myrtles. Burgundy Cotton� enriches the range with white flowers on dark foliage. Flowers are formed in large panicles producing enormous number of burgundy red buds from mid to end July until frost. Flower colour is almost white with some pink shades.
Leaves of Burgundy Cotton� are deep burgundy red when the emerge, changing to deep green in summer with still enough new foliage at the tips of the branches to provide a fantastic background for almost white flowers. The leaves are deciduous, oval to ovate, larger and more leathery than on the species, turning various shades of yellow, orange and red in autumn. When they fall down older plants reveal flaking-off bark, similar to what plane trees or stewartias do, leaving a mosaic pattern on the smooth trunks.
Last update: 04-01-2011
Crepe myrtles need little care. They need full sun with zero shade during the day. Grow them in well-drained soil that should be kept moist before the plant is fully established. If cultivated in acidic soil the plant will make fabulous colour play of autumn foliage. Crape myrtle needs heavy mulching in winter and some mulch in summer to retain moisture. Fertilize it in spring to encourage growth (nitrogen-based fertilizers), and in summer to encourage flowering (phosphorus-based fertilizers). Purple Magic has not yet been tested under all possible conditions but so far proved above ground (wood) hardy to about -18 �C, and root-hardy to about -24 �C.
