53. Crape Myrtle Bunch
Planting eight new Crape Myrtles.
My latest crape myrtles arrived late last night, and they looked great. I was super excited to add them to my street tree collection. Here is a picture of the unboxed Crape Myrtles from this morning:
Source
I have now purchased Crape Myrtles from three different sources, and I was impressed with the quality of this latest batch.
The first Crape Myrtle I purchased from FastGrowing Trees (Twilight Crape Myrtle) and it cost $70. This was my very first Crape Myrtle and I did not know what to expect. There were two branches and each was about a pencil width in diameter.
The second batch of Crape Myrtles I purchased from Crape Myrtle Guy on Amazon. I purchased a four pack of Tonto’s for $60 ($15 each) and a four pack of Sioux for $60 ($15 each). These were really tiny. I planted them last fall, and I would be shocked if they all survived through the winter. They were maybe lead thickness in diameter. A few the Sioux’s were bigger but all less than a foot tall. The Tonto’s looked really insignificant at just inches tall.
Now, the two big boxes that arrived from Wilson Bros Garden looked promising, and when I opened them up, I was really pleasantly surprised. I got two 3-gallon Tuscarora for $75 each and a six-pack of 1-gallon Hopi’s for $160 ($27 each). They are significantly sized, and the 3-gallon size trunks are the size of a sharpie and 3-4 feet tall. The 1-gallon size also has reasonably sized trunks, a pencil width, and overall about 2-3 feet in height.
Variety
Here is more detail about these latest two varieties. I wanted summer flowing trees that also provide some winter interest.
Tuscarora
Height at Maturity: 15-20'
Width at Maturity: 15'
One of if not the most popular Crape Myrtle trees of all time and one of our personal favorites of the taller growing cultivars, 'Tuscarora' produces abundant 6 to 7 inch long clusters of bright, watermelon-red flowers for up to 120 days during summer. Rich-green foliage throughout the season turns to vibrant shades of orange and red, extending the color show into fall.
Details & Image Source: Wilson Bros Gardens
Hopi
Height at Maturity: 10-12'
Width at Maturity: 8-10'
Her dark green foliage provides a wonderful backdrop for the gorgeous and large clusters of bright pink flowers throughout most of summer and into early fall. Fall brings attractive reddish orange foliage. The exfoliating grey and brown bark then provides winter interest in the landscape.
Details & Image Source: Wilson Bros Gardens
Garden Location
These latest Crape Myrtles are a part of my street screen. In addition to summer flowers and winter bark, these Crape Myrtles work together to create a cluster that has both color and size complements. One big, darker pink Tuscarora is grouped with the three lighter pink, smaller Hopi’s. These groupings of Crape Myrtles create two points of interest along our 300 foot long street face. They are both located at the points along the street where I envision pedestrians walking up to the house.
Time Stamp
Here is what the trees looked like today February 4, 2024. I think they look so insignificant that you can’t even see them in the photo. It will take a long time before they reach that 10 year size shown in my diagrams.
The next step is figure out my irrigation plan for all the new trees at the street.