Lagerstroemia indica Cherry Lelaro - Crape Myrtle

Lagerstroemia indica 'Cherry' 'Lelaro', or 'Bouquet Rouge' is a variety of Indian Lilac of modest height. It is very floriferous, covered with clusters of flowers in red and pink tones from the beginning to the end of summer. It is a hardy, vigorous and healthy selection and resistant to diseases. Summer Lilacs are also appreciated for their smooth bark, which is richly coloured and ornamental all year round, as well as their beautiful autumn colours. These shrubs love heat, but appreciate a bit of coolness in summer to support their flowering. This one can be pruned into a bushy habit, or led on a single trunk to form a small tree. Superb when isolated in a small garden or in a large pot on the terrace. 

Lagerstroemia indica Cherry Bouquet Rouge is a shrub from the Lythraceae family. This shrub forms, depending on how it is pruned, a bushy and ramified habit, or a small tree with a rounded, slightly spread out, crown. Of medium size, it will reach about 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) in height at maturity, for a diameter of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). Its growth is moderately rapid. It is able to start flowering as early as the end of June, depending on the climate, and its flowering will continue until September-October. The large inflorescences, in ramified clusters, are composed of very numerous small flowers carried by fine pedicels. Each flower has five very undulate-edged petals, whose texture recalls that of crepe paper. They are gathered in large, dense panicles, at the end of the year's branches. In the 'Cherry' variety, the floral buds bloom into flowers of a very bright fuchsia red-pink. The foliage, tough and deciduous, begins bronze, then becomes dark green and shiny. It is composed of ovate leaves, which often take on lovely yellow and purple tones in the autumn, depending on the climate. Finally, and for a beautiful finish, its bark is remarkable and smooth, flaking in coloured plates (cinnamon, faded red, old pink and cream).  

Indian Lilacs are traditionally the glory of the garden. This is a small tree which, in its improved forms, should be acclimatised in colder zones, carefully choosing the variety and its location. Note that specimens grown in pots will always be more sensitive to cold than those growing in the ground. It is in isolation, near the house, that you will be able to fully enjoy its generosity. It will look good in a shrub bed or in a mixed flowering hedge, or emerging from a mound of perennials. In autumn, it accompanies the cotinus and deciduous spindle trees with its colourful display. In a large pot on the terrace, it puts on a show while the summer flowers are fading. We envisage it forming a tri-colour plant tapestry as a ground cover to enhance the Cherry Lilac: a weave of thymes (Thymus hirsutus, longicaulis, nitens), oreganos and silver baskets will dress the base of its trunk and highlight the beauty of its bark.

NB : Karl Von Linne named this tree in honour of 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. It should be pointed out that this tree produces fruits that have a narcotic effect if ingested.