Lagerstroemia 'TUSCARORA' 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
Tuscarora is another successful cold-hardy lagestremia hybrid variety from the US National Arboretum. It has bright coral pink to scarlet red flowers composed in upright panicles and appear, according to the quality of the summer, from August to September or October. The leaves are deciduous, glossy, dark green during the season and orange and maroon in autumn. They are highly powdery mildew resistant. Tuscarora grows rather fast into an upright multi-stemmed vase-shaped shrub or small tree with slightly arching branches.
The Tuscarora are a North American tribe whose settled in the area of today�s North Carolina and New York state. The breeder Dr. Egolf chose Native American names for many of his varieties deliberately as a tribute to the people whose nation was irreparably harmed.
Crepe myrtles naturally form V-shaped shrubs or multi-stemmed trees. You can leave them to their own devices or train them into a spectacular multistems: when your plant reaches a height of around two meters you can start removing lateral branches from the lower parts to shape it into an elegant multi-stemmed tree. Mature trunks produce a beautiful pattern similar to that on planetrees, with several shades of brown, green, and beige. When the trees shed leaves and trunks become bare the display of these coloured trunks of crepe myrtles is usually the best.
Last update: 15-09-2023
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.
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- STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
- DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
- EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
- STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
- HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
- SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
- HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
- FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
- GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.
