Marvelous Myrtles & More
by Bek Akin
Myrtle
Drive down just about any major thoroughfare in Walker County, and one can pick out the survivors. Standing strong on single or multi-trunks with bright green foliage and amass with large clusters of tiny crinkled flowers, each in its own vibrant manner seems to scream, I am surviving the dreaded Texas heat. And we all know that heat. It’s the very one that makes many of us practically pant if we are out in it for more than 55 seconds, and causes a general malaise to take over our bodies if we are out longer than one minute and thirty-two seconds. Well, nearly that.
One would think that to survive this southeast Texas heat, a plant would need to be of the cactus variety, or perhaps a very hardy succulent. But some horticulturists consider the crape myrtle hardy enough to be native. It’s a favorite among gardeners and can be found in old homesteads and new, and along highways and in large parking lot beds or planters. Indeed, these plants are ideal for southeast Texas.
According to Doug Welsh (Doug Welsh’s Texas Garden Almanac, TX A&M Press, 2007), “the American love affair with the crape myrtle is traced back to colonial America, but the route is not well documented.” Indeed and oddly enough, the crape myrtle has Chinese roots but was likely introduced by the French to the Charleston, South Carolina area around 1786.
Since then, Welsh says that thousands of varieties with colors ranging from white to red including lavender and pink have been developed in the United States, and enjoyed from Washington DC to throughout the south and west to California. And then in 1997 the state of Texas, seeing the crape myrtle as tough and adaptable, long blooming (up to 120 days), with many regarding it as the “lilac of the south,” selected it to be the state shrub. How fitting!
How many of us have driven along the I-45 corridor from Huntsville south to Galveston and observed the medians and beyond often filled with gorgeous crape myrtles that seem to smile and wave as we go by? To add to these there are other heat-hardy plants — oleanders and pampas grass. All growing profusely and willingly as if they themselves chose their particular spots so we could all enjoy and relish in their beauty.
Crape myrtles come in a variety of sizes which include miniature (2 -3 ft tall), large shrub (10 – 20 ft), and tree (20+ ft tall). The fewer the trunks on the plant, the taller it will grow, says Welsh. As varied are the sizes of crape myrtles, the numbers of ways to use them in the landscape are also many. They may accent or shade, hedge or groundcover, or bookend other plants. Consider the mature size of the plant you purchase and the space it needs to fill to avoid heavy pruning needs. The gardener can have fun creating a myrtle masterpiece in his or her own landscape.
As if the summer beauty of the crape myrtle is not enough deliciousness for these beholding eyes, when autumn finally arrives, this shrub brings us a new round of dessert. Just before the winter leaf dropping, the green leaves go through a wonderful change in color – nearly unique for any autumn in southeast Texas. Normally we expect warm autumn colors farther north, but if one’s landscape here were filled with crape myrtles, the serenade of reds and oranges would truly be magnificent! Indeed a beautiful accompaniment to evergreens and oaks, or simply to stand alone and be magical.
With one crape myrtle many more can be easily propagated. Welsh details the complete technique in his book. However, in short, the best time to start is when the parent plant goes dormant. Take several cuttings and cut one end of each at an angle. Dip the angled cut into rooting hormone – just a light covering. With a pencil – we master gardeners call it a dibble – poke a hole in good, well-draining soil (one-gallon containers or the ground) and place the cuttings angled side down about 6 inches apart. Water the soil gently around cuttings to moisten, and then keep lightly moistened with rain or tap water throughout winter. Then wait for roots to develop.
Welsh says generally half of them will make roots by early spring. With gentle lifts of the cutting and realizing a gentle holding within the dirt, one can figure the roots are growing. The crape myrtles will continue their root development and begin budding out as the weather warms. At the point of rapid growing, about late March or early April, add some water soluble fertilizer, still keeping the container-grown plants watered. In April and May you may transplant them or share them with friends. During their first summer or two keep them watered so they become hardy and established.
Walt Whitman spent nearly his entire life writing Leaves of Grass (1892). In one part of the poem he said, “Why are there trees I never walk under but large and melodious thoughts descend upon me?” Easily he could have been talking about crape myrtles! The beautiful, vibrant blooms embracing us over and over through summer, and then its foliage entertaining us in fall… how much more marvelous can these myrtles be?
For more information on the Walker County Master Gardeners, please call (936) 435-2426 or go to www.walkercountymastergardener.org/ The WCMG website is a bounty of useful gardening information and citizens are encouraged to peruse it often.
If you have any questions about the information in this article or any of the Extension programs, please contact the Walker County AgriLife Extension Office at (936)435-2426, or walker-tx@tamu.edu. Extension programs serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas cooperating. A member of the Texas A&M University System and its statewide agriculture program.
