Crepe Myrtle
Lagerstroemia indica
A Southern favourite for its long summer show of crepe-papery flowers in white, pink, red or purple, plus colourful fall leaves and smooth, peeling bark that shows off in winter. Give it full sun and well-drained soil; it takes heat and drought. Choose a variety sized for the spot, since hard topping ruins its shape.
- Mature size
- 18 × 18 ft
- 5.5 × 5.5 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 7a–9b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Dry to moist
- Blooms
- Jul–Sep
- Fall color Oct–Nov
Crepe Myrtle at its mature size
A mature Crepe Myrtle grows 16 to 20 feet tall and just as wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: Missouri Botanical Garden.
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Through the year
What Crepe Myrtle looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Dec–Apr
Bare: smooth mottled tan and gray peeling trunks, brown seed capsules at tips; leafs out late.
In leaf · May–Jun
Dark green leathery leaves, no flowers.
In flower · Jul–Sep
Large crinkled coral-pink flower clusters at every branch tip.
Fall · Oct–Nov
Orange-red to red, fairly bright.
Photos
Growing Crepe Myrtle
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Plains and Mountain West, the desert Southwest, and California.
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Good for
- Hedge, small space, specimen, drought tolerant, deer resistant, fall color, and winter interest
- Leaves
- Drops its leaves in winter
- Native to
- China and Korea
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Crepe Myrtle, that’s about 18 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Crepe Myrtle in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.