Lagerstroemia indica Tea Rose - Crape Myrtle

The Lagerstroemia indica ‘Tea Rose’ is a medium-sized, resilient Indian Lilac, offering early and lavish summer flowering: its flower clusters are a very delicate pastel pink, enhanced by yellow stamens. This naturally ramified bush can become a small tree if patiently and meticulously pruned. It also charms with its matte green foliage that colours in the autumn and its decorative bark. Craving sun and warmth, this variety will flourish better warmer climates. Boasting multiple attributes, Indian Lilacs are among the most beautiful bushes for summer flowering. As such, they deserve a prime spot in the garden or on the terrace.

The Lagerstroemia indica ‘Tea Rose’ is a rather old cultivar, often overlooked in favour of modern cultivars despite its beautiful presence in the garden. It is a small tree or large bush from the Lythraceae family, originating from China. It has a bushy and ramified habit, with a rounded crown. It will reach on average of 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in height at ripeness, with a span of 2 m. Its growth is quite fast. 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 undulate-edged petals that make up this flower. The flowers, whose texture is reminiscent of crepe, are gathered in large, dense panicles at the ends of the year's branches. The buds of the 'Tea Rose' are pink, and then they bloom into a bright and soft pale pink. The deciduous foliage, leathery, is born red, then becomes shiny green. It is made up of small ovate leaves, which often take on pretty yellow, orange or red hues in the autumn, before falling. Lastly, and to end on a beautiful note, its bark is magnificent on old specimens: smooth, beige, striated with reddish-brown, it peels off in beautifully coloured plates (cinnamon, faded red, old pink, cream).

Indian Lilacs bring glory to the gardens of the South West, and prefer humid and warm climates. It is in isolation, near the house, that you can fully enjoy this plant's generosity. It will look good in a bush 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, Aster laevis. In the autumn, it accompanies the aster, which is as colourful as itself. In a large pot on the terrace, it steals the show when the summer flowerings fade. We have simply imagined a tricolour plant tapestry as a ground cover to highlight the Summer Lilac 'Tea Rose’. A cradle of Swany roses and Valerie Finnis wormwood, punctuated with small tufts of lavender and red carnations will dress the base of its trunk, underline its bark and accompany its sparkling flowering.

The Indian Lilac also bears many other evocative and charming names: muslin flower, crepe myrtle, lagerose, Chinese crepe myrtle, crepe paper flower.

NB: Karl Von Linne named this tree to honour his friend Magnus Von Lagerstroem (1696 – 1759), who had sent it to him from India for identification. Originally, this tree was used to decorate Chinese temples. We would like to point out that this tree produces fruits that have a narcotic action if ingested.