Lagerstroemia indica Souvenir d'Hubert Puard

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Souvenir d'Hubert Puard' is a Indian Lilac with generous mauve lilac flowering, from August to September. This moderately vigorous bush has shiny dark green deciduous foliage that turns warm colours in autumn. Craving for sun and warmth, this variety will thrive best in Southern regions. With multiple advantages, Indian Lilacs are among the most beautiful flowering bushes. As such, they deserve a special place in the garden or on the terrace.

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Souvenir d'Hubert Puard' belongs to the Lythraceae family. The Lagerstroemia indica, from which it originates, is native to China. The cultivar 'Souvenir d'Hubert Puard' was selected in 1973 at the Demartis nursery in Dordogne, as a tribute to its former head of cultivation. This moderately vigorous bush with a regular habit reaches a height of 2 to 3 metres (7 to 10 feet) at maturity, with a similar spread. Its flowering usually begins in August and lasts until September. The flowers are characterised by thin pedicels, each bearing five undulate-edged petals that make up this flower. The flowers, with a texture reminiscent of crepe, are gathered in large, dense panicles at the tips of the branches of the current year. In 'Souvenir d'Hubert Puard', the incredibly abundant flowering is a bright mauve lilac. The foliage, tough and deciduous, is shiny dark green. It is composed of small ovate leaves, which take on a beautiful coppery red hue in autumn, depending on the climate. Its bark is truly beautiful, smooth, beige striated with brown-red, peeling off in coloured patches (cinnamon, faded red, old rose, cream).

Indian Lilacs are the pride of gardens in the South-West. Preferring the humid and warm Atlantic to the dry and windy Mediterranean, it is a small tree that deserves to be acclimated in the colder areas of our region, by carefully choosing its location. Its hardiness and vigour allow it. It is when isolated, close to the house, that you can fully enjoy its generosity. It will look good in a shrub bed, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a mound of perennials. Create a bed like a bouquet, with Campanula pyramidalis, Salvia sclarea, Aster laevis. In a large pot on the terrace, it puts on a show while the summer flowering fades.

NB: Karl Linnaeus named this tree to pay 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.