Lagerstroemia indica Indian Rose - Crape Myrtle

Lagerstroemia indica 'Indian Rose' is a beautifully sized and resistant Indian Lilac, offering an early and lavish summer flowering: its clusters of flowers are a sublime bright pink. This shrub with a naturally generous and ramified habit can become a small tree if patiently and meticulously pruned. It also charms with its decorative bark and its shiny green foliage that becomes coloured in autumn. With many positive qualities, Indian Lilacs are among the most beautiful summer flowering shrubs. As such, they deserve a special place in the garden or on the terrace.

Lagerstroemia indica 'Indian Rose' is a rather old cultivar, often forgotten in favour of modern cultivars despite its beautiful presence in the garden. It is a small tree or large shrub of the Lythraceae family, native to China. It has a bushy and ramified habit, with a rounded crown. It will reach an average height of 4 m (13 ft 1 in) at maturity, with a spread of 3 m (9 ft 10 in). Its growth is quite rapid. It needs warmth to flower and often chooses the beginning of July to start its flowering, which will continue until October. The flowers are characterised by thin pedicels, each carrying five undulated-edged petals that make up the flower. The flowers, whose texture resembles that of crepe paper, are gathered in large, dense panicles at the ends of the year's branches. In 'Indian Rose', the buds are pink, before they bloom into a yet more vivid pink. The deciduous leathery foliage begins red before turning shiny green. It is composed of small oval leaves, which often take on pretty yellow, orange, or red hues in autumn before falling. Finally, and to finish beautifully, its bark is magnificent on old subjects: smooth and beige streaked with red-brown, it peels off in nicely coloured plates (cinnamon, faded red, old pink, cream).

Indian Lilacs are the pride of gardens. When isolated and near the house is when you can fully enjoy its generous display. It will look good in a shrub bed, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a mound of perennials. Compose a bed like a bouquet, with Artemisia Powis Castle, Campanula pyramidalis, Salvia sclarea, or Aster laevis. In autumn, it accompanies the asters, as colourful as itself. In a large pot on the terrace, it puts on a show while summer flowering is slowing down. We recommend, very simply, a tricolour tapestry as a ground cover to enhance the Indian Lilac. A bed of Swany roses and Valerie Finnis artemisia, punctuated by small tufts of lavender and red carnations, will dress the base of its trunk, underline its bark, and accompany its sparkling flowers.

Note: Karl Von Linne named this tree to pay tribute to his friend, Magnus Von Lagestroem (1696-1759), who had sent it to him from India for identification. Originally, this tree was used to decorate Chinese temples. It should be pointed out that this tree produces fruits that have a narcotic effect if ingested.