Lagerstroemia indica Victoria - Crape Myrtle

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Victoria', is a variety of Indian Lilac known for its generous flowering in intense coloured clusters of a near red from August to September. This Indian lilac has a rather bushy and compact habit, reaching about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in all directions. Its lovely shiny foliage takes on golden yellow hues before falling, while its bark peels with age, revealing a very characteristic, smooth, beige-grey trunk with brown-red markings, which are particularly highlighted in the background of a bed or isolated near an entrance. It is a vigorous and quite hardy bush that grows in the sun in a sheltered location, in light, fresh, rich soil, without too much limestone.

The Lagerstroemia indica ‘Victoria’ belongs to the Lythraceae family. The Lagerstroemia indica, from which it originates, is native to China. The famous cultivar ‘Victoria’ is a North American selection. This quite hardy bush has a more compact and bushy habit, reaching 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in all directions. Its flowering usually begins at the beginning of August and continues until September. The flowers are characterised by thin pedicels each bearing five petals with undulated edges that make up this flower. The flowers are gathered in large, dense and heavy panicles, shaped like a pyramid, at the end of the year's branches. In ‘Victoria’, the abundant flowering is of a very dark pink, almost red. The foliage, leathery and deciduous, is a dark shiny green. It is composed of small ovate leaves, which take on a lovely coppery red hue in autumn to golden yellow, depending on the climate. Finally, its bark is a beautiful, smooth, beige striate with brown-red, peeling off in coloured plates (cinnamon, faded red, old pink, cream).

Indian Lilacs traditionally make the glory of the gardens of the South-West. Preferring humid and warm climates, this small tree also deserves to be acclimatised to colder areas, with careful consideration given to the variety and its location. Its hardiness and vigour allow it. It is when this plant is isolated, near the house, that you will be able to fully enjoy its generosity. It will look good in a bush bed, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a mound of perennials. Compose a bed like a bouquet, with Nepeta, Salvia sclarea or jamensis, Aster laevis. In autumn, this plant accompanies the cotinus and deciduous spindle trees, that are equally as colourful. In a large pot on the terrace, it puts on a show while the summer flowerings are slowing down. We simply imagined a tricolour plant tapestry as a ground cover to highlight the Lilac ‘Fuchsia d’Eté’: a weave of thymes (Thymus hirsutus, longicaulis, nitens), oreganos, and silver baskets will dress the base of its trunk, underline the beauty of its bark and reflect its beautiful flowering.

NB: We would like to point out that this tree produces fruits that have a narcotic action in case of ingestion.