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Crape Myrtle with black foliage - Red   /   Lagerstroemia black solitaire rubra

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Buy: Crape Myrtle with black foliage - Red

Ref Description € Inc Tax Buy Availability
7722XX Crape Myrtle with Black Foliage and Red Flowers
Lagerstroemia Black Solitaire Crimson Red

Young plug plant – Height of plant: 30/40 cm.
14.50 Available
7722K Crape Myrtle with Black Foliage and Red Flowers
Lagerstroemia Black Solitaire Crimson Red

Young plug plant – Height of plant: 30/40 cm.
Unit price available starting from 3 units purchased.
13.95 Available
7722L Crape Myrtle with Black Foliage and Red Flowers
Lagerstroemia Black Solitaire Crimson Red

Young plug plant – Height of plant: 30/40 cm.
Unit price available starting from 10 units purchased.
12.95 Available
7722j Special Offer - 15%
Crape Myrtle with Black Foliage and Red Flowers
Lagerstroemia Black Solitaire Crimson Red

Young plug plant – Height of plant: 30/40 cm.
12.31 Available
7722Q Crape Myrtle with Black Foliage and Red Flowers
Lagerstroemia Black Solitaire Crimson Red

Young plug plant – Height of plant: 30/40 cm.
Unit price available starting from 25 units purchased.
11.95 Available
7722A FERTILISER – Fertiliser tablet to place at the bottom of the hole before planting. Slow release over 7 to 8 months. Only 1 tablet in each hole. 0.40 Available

 

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Everything about: Crape Myrtle with black foliage - Red

Crape Myrtle with black foliage - Red - Lagerstroemia black solitaire rubra (latin)

Geographical origin: China
Adult size: Height up to 2.5m, spread up to 2m
Foliage: Deciduous
Type of soil: Acidic, light, well-drained and humus-rich.
Climate: Hardy up to -15°C
Site: Full sun


Properties and uses:
The Lagerstroemia Black solitaire has incredibly intense and deep tints foliage.
Its leaves are chocolate brown, nearly black as soon as they appear in the spring right up to the end of the summer.
In the autumn, they get coppery glints before falling.
The growth of the Lagerstroemia Black solitaire is moderate enough to allow it to be planted even in small gardens, on balconies and terraces.
The red flowers in masses of frothy grapes contrast perfectly with the black, glossy, smooth leaves.

Lagerstroemia Black solitaire 'Crimson Red' has a superb, vivid crimson red blossom in the depths of summer and right throughout September.

See the Lagerstroemia catalogue

Jean-Michel Groult advises you

The Crape myrtle, also called "Indian Lilac" or again "Harvest Lilac", has not a lot in common on a botanical point of view with the Common Lilac.
These large shrubs which can reach the size of a small tree with a trunk of 3m, bloom with unrivalled generosity in summer, a time of the year where blooms are not as plentiful than in the spring.

Not very demanding
The Crape myrtle is not sensitive to calcareous soil, cold, poor soil and drought. There are not many shrubs like it! Beware though: it shows resistance providing it has been helped at planting time. Water regularly during its first years and enrich the soil if it is very poor.

Think about protecting young specimens during the first three years against winter-cold. The plant is hardy up to -18°C. The first winters, the young specimens still having a fine stem, they can suffer from harsh frost. A Crape myrtle which has suffered from cold can bloom later than normal (it blossoms abundantly as from its second tear). Wrap the main stems with wintering-fleece and mulch lightly the base.

Choose a Crape myrtle suiting your climate
North of the Loire, choose a non-repeating, early-flowering variety which you will able to enjoy the sight every year. The choice of the variety is more important than the shape: it is better to grow a bushy early-flowering Crape myrtle rather than a standard variety which would not be suitable for your area.

In the South, all varieties and shapes are suitable. Standards are indeed kept for areas which enjoy hot summers (beneath the line Bordeaux-Valence). Late blooming or repeat-flowering varieties which require a lot of summer-heat in order to bloom are better suited to southern climates. Avoid planting one in a cold area, especially when summers are cool and springs late to warm up.

How to prune a Crape myrtle?
To flower well, the Crape myrtle needs harsh pruning as its flowers appear at the end of the most vigorous branches. The first year, cut all the small branches and keep the most beautiful ones at a length of 60 to 80cm. You must be left with a maximum of 8 to 10 branches, which are cleaned of their ramifications. Favour a harmonious silhouette in only keeping the nicely spread branches. The following years, always prune in the same spots. The clump ends up forming stumps, guarantee of a loyal, luxuriant blossom.

Good to know
The worst seen pruning is a ball-shaped shrub. The shrub produces three times less flowers! And what if you do not prune the shrub? It will bloom but the flowers will be more scattered and less showy, as disseminated in the foliage.

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1950 Route de Cère
40090 UCHACQ - FRANCE
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