Lagerstroemia indica Berlingot Menthe - Crape Myrtle

Lagerstroemia indica 'Berlingot Menthe' is an American selection of small-sized Indian Myrtles, both unique and delightful. This deciduous shrub stands out for its particularly compact habit, but also for its summer blooms, composed of clusters of deep pink, white-edged, crinkled flowers. With its beautifully coloured foliage in spring, radiant at the end of the season, it is also interesting in winter for its marbled bark in shades of red. Indian myrtles like heat but also some coolness in summer to support their flowering. This one will make a sensational specimen in a small garden or in a pretty pot on the patio.

Lagerstroemia indica 'Berlingot Menthe' (Peppermint Lace) belongs to the Lythraceae family.  Lagerstroemia indica is native to China. This shrub has a bushy and branched habit from the base, with a rounded crown. It will reach on average 1.5m (4 ft 11 in) in height at maturity, with a diameter of 1.2m (4 ft 1 in). Its growth is quite slow.

It chooses the month of July to start its flowering, which will continue until September. The inflorescences are composed of thin pedicels each bearing five very undulate petals, the texture of which reminds one of crepe. They are gathered in large, dense panicles at the end this year's branches. In the variety 'Berlingot Menthe', the buds are wine-coloured, then they burst open releasing a white frill. Then they open widely to display deep pink flowers, edged with white. The foliage, tough and deciduous, is bronze-red and then becomes dark green and shiny. These are small ovate leaves which often turn pretty orange or red shades in autumn depending on the climate.  In addition, its beautiful bark is smooth, beige and striated with brown-red, and flakes to display cinnamon, faded red, old pink, cream marbling.

Indian myrtles are the glory of gardens. Preferring the humid and warm climate, it is a small tree that can also to be acclimatised in a colder area as it can also be quite hardy.  Enjoy it as a specimen shrub near the house. It will look good in a shrub bed, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a clump of perennials. Mix into a flowering bed with Campanula pyramidalis, Salvia sclarea or jamensis and Aster laevis. In autumn, it works well with Cotinus and deciduous spindle trees, with all their colour. It also creates a lovely display in a large pot on the patio, when other summer flowering plants are slowing down. Display this plant, Lagerstroemia indica 'Berlingot Menthe', with a wonderful planting tapestry of groundcover with thymes, oreganos and other silver creeping plants weaving like a tapestry around the base of its trunk, highlighting its bark and reflecting its beautiful flowering.

NB: Karl Von Linne named this tree to honour his friend Magnus Von Lagestroem (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 are poisonous if ingested.