Lagerstroemia indica Pecharmant - Crape Myrtle

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Pécharmant' is a variety of Indian lilac with a rather early flowering, featuring an original mauve colour with bluish hues. A small tree or bush of medium vigour, with an upright habit, it is suitable for small gardens and container cultivation. Selected for its hardiness and floribundance even in cooler regions, it is an excellent choice for a sheltered corner against a south-facing wall. Its coppery to golden yellow autumn foliage and beautiful peeling bark make it a perfect subject for planting near a terrace or house or as a background for flower beds.

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Pécharmant' is part of a series of hybrids carefully selected for their hardiness and floribundance. This bush belongs to the Lythraceae family, just like the Lagerstroemia indica from which it originates. The latter is native to China. This 'Pécharmant' variety has an upright and compact habit. It will reach an average height of 2m (7ft) at maturity with a diameter of 1.5m (5ft). Its growth rate is moderate. It chooses the end of July to start its flowering, which continues until September. The inflorescences are composed of slender pedicels, each bearing five petals with highly undulated edges, with a texture reminiscent of crepe paper. They are gathered in dense panicles at the ends of the current year's branches. In 'Pécharmant', the pedicels and flower buds are purplish-violet, then the flower buds open widely in a beautiful mauve shade tinged with blue, which fades slightly over time. The centre of the flowers is animated by fine golden yellow stamens. The foliage, leathery and deciduous, retains its dark green colour from spring to summer, then turns copper and golden yellow in autumn before falling. It is composed of small ovate and pointed leaves with a glossy appearance. Lastly, its bark, as it ages, is very interesting: smooth, beige striated with grey, reddish-brown, it peels off in more or less coloured patches (cinnamon, faded red, old rose, cream).

Indian Lilacs traditionally grace gardens in the South West. Preferring the humid and warm South Atlantic to the dry and windy Mediterranean, Lagerstroemia is a small tree that deserves to be acclimated in the colder areas of our country, especially its improved varieties, more hardy and earlier flowering. It is when planted near the house that you can fully enjoy its generosity. It will also make a good impression in a shrub border, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a mass of perennials. Create a bed like a bouquet, with Nepetas, shrubby salvias, and asters. In autumn, it accompanies the beautiful autumn foliage of cotinus and deciduous euonymus. In a large pot on the terrace, it puts on a show while summer flowering subsides.

NB: Carl Linnaeus named this tree as a tribute to 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 with narcotic effects if ingested.