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Other Names:  Crape Myrtle, Crepe Myrtle

Description:

This stunning ornamental tree is covered in lovely watermelon-red blooms in summer, followed by golden fall foliage; a captivating focal point for the landscape

Ornamental Features

Watermelon Red Crapemyrtle is smothered in stunning panicles of red frilly flowers with pink overtones at the ends of the branches from early summer to early fall. It has attractive dark green deciduous foliage which emerges coppery-bronze in spring. The oval leaves are highly ornamental and turn gold in fall. The peeling gray bark is extremely showy and adds significant winter interest.

Landscape Attributes

Watermelon Red Crapemyrtle is a dense multi-stemmed deciduous tree with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Watermelon Red Crapemyrtle is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Watermelon Red Crapemyrtle will grow to be about 25 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 25 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 4 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have rich, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.