Red Crepe Myrtle

Red Crepe Myrtle

Red Crepe Myrtle: TN Nursery customers go wild over the red crepe myrtle--sell hundreds of our multiple colors of crepe myrtles each year.

Red crepe myrtle will bloom during the mid-summer. The hue is a bright pink-red color. Once the blossoms appear, they continue to bloom for four to six weeks.

The species is super easygoing, requiring little help from you once established. Give your sapling some fertilizer and a nice sunny spot, water it every few days, and watch it grow!

Many people mistake the red crepe myrtle for a tree. However, it is a deciduous shrub, despite its twenty to thirty-foot mature height.

America loves the red crepe myrtle! Although it's not a North American native species, it thrives in the warmer USDA growing zones, especially in the southeastern states.

The red crepe myrtle is cold-hardy and heat-hardy, which may explain its prevalence in the upper south, with freezing temperatures in the winter and blistering summers. It's also resistant to pest damage, disease, and mildew.

The Red Crepe Myrtle Is a Real Showstopper

The eye-popping shade of vibrant red appears across the south during the peak summertime heat. That's when enormous clusters of dainty red florets open up, creating the illusion of a single, vast flower.

When left alone, the red crepe myrtle has multiple upright branches that grow into an elegant, shrub-like shape. However, some gardeners will prune it during its first few seasons to encourage it to grow straight and tall to appear like a tree.

The medium-hue green leaves are smallish, around two inches long, glossy, and oval. They are bountiful and create a lush, green canopy to provide a break from the summer sun.

The bark is light in color with a slightly rough texture. It is not entirely smooth, nor is it rough. The bark renews yearly, sloughing away in the late summer and exposing a fresh layer.

Those stunning red crepe myrtle flowers become a blessing for birds: one-inch or smaller brown pods open to release many seeds.

Red Crepe Myrtle Is Attractive to Insects and Feathered Friends

Pollinators find the vivid red blossoms highly attractive. You will likely witness pollinator insects--bees, moths, dragonflies, and butterflies--enjoying the nectar of your red crepe myrtle.

After the worms and insects retire for the winter, birds will seek out your red crepe myrtle, cracking open those pods to enjoy much-needed sustenance.

TN Nursery provides the healthiest red crepe myrtle shrubs, dug fresh before shipping. Place your order today.