Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia) offer the powerful triple allure of brilliant flowers (late in the season), beautiful bark, and vivid fall color. Long grown in western Oregon, they are enjoying a surge of discovery among gardeners. Often thought of as trees and shrubs for hotter climates, a wide range of cultivars have proven their adaptability in our milder summers, and others are waiting to be discovered by gardeners.
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The cultivars released through this program express a broad variation in habit, size, flower color, bloom time, and bark coloration. From dwarf shrubs, barely eighteen inches tall, to large and spreading shade trees, they constitute some of the most popular selections now grown in the United States. Aside from a handful of cultivars, however, they remain little known in Oregon gardens.
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Another important chapter in crape myrtle breeding is the work of Dr Carl Whitcomb, of Lacebark Inc in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In the last twenty-five years, he has raised seedlings from a single vividly flowered specimen of Lagerstroemia indica, with astonishing results. Through a long and rigorous evaluation process, he has been able to select for cold hardiness and disease resistance, like those from the National Arboretum, as well as drought tolerance. His introductions, however, offer more vivid colors, including true red flowers, extended bloom time, and darkly hued foliage—a completely new look for crape myrtle.
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