Lagerstroemia indica Summer Charm Hopi - Crape Myrtle

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Hopi' is part of a series of Indian Lilacs named Summer Charm, gathering bushes particularly floribundus for over three months in summer, which resist powdery mildew and the cold well. Of medium pruning, this plant carries foamy clusters of a pure and bright pink impressive by their size. The summer Lilacs are also appreciated for their smooth bark, richly coloured, ornamental all year round, as well as their beautiful autumn colours. These bushes love the heat but appreciate a little freshness in summer to support their flowering. This variety will make a sensation isolated in a small garden or in a pot on the terrace.

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Summer Charm Hopi', obtained very recently, is part of a series of hybrids carefully selected for their floribundus, their hardiness and their lesser sensitivity to powdery mildew. This variety is still little diffuse in the trade.

'Hopi' belongs to the family of Lythraceae, just like the Lagerstroemia indica, from which it is derived. The latter is native to China. This bush presents a bushy and ramified habit from the base, with a rounded crown, a small spread. Of medium pruning, it will reach about 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in height at ripeness, for a diameter of 2 m. Its growth is quite rapid. It chooses the beginning of July to start its flowering peiod, which will continue until September. The large inflorescences, in ramified clusters, are composed of very numerous small flowers carried by thin pedicels. Each flower counts five petals with a very undulate border, whose texture recalls that of the crepe. They are gathered in large dense panicles, at the end of the branches of the year.

In 'Hopi', the inflorescences measure up to 14cm (5.5 in) long and 17cm (6.7 in) wide. The pedicels are pinkish, the floral buds bloom widely in flowers of a very bright pink. The foliage, leathery and deciduous, is born reddish, then becomes dark green and shiny. It is composed of large ovate leaves, which often take pretty orange or coppery shades in autumn, depending on the climate. Finally, and to finish in beauty, its bark is of all beauty, smooth, beige striate of grey, brown-red, peeling in coloured plates (cinnamon, extinct red, old pink, cream).

Indian Lilacs traditionally make the glory of gardens in the South-West. This small tree prefers humid and hot climates and in its improved forms, deserves to be acclimatised in the colder climates, providing care is given when choosing the variety and location. Its hardiness and vigour allow it, like the new varieties of the Summer Charm series. It is isolated, near the house, that you will be able to fully enjoy this tree's generosity. It will look good in a bush massif or in a mixed flower hedge of different varieties and colours, or emerging from a mound of perennials. In the autumn, it accompanies the equally colourful cotinus and the deciduous spindle trees. In a large pot on the terrace, it makes a show while the summer flowerings mark the pace. 

NB: Karl Von Linneus named this tree to pay tribute to his friend Magnus Von Lagerstroem (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 a narcotic action in case of ingestion.