08 Jan
With the advent of summer the magical wonder of the Crepe myrtles decorate the earth in both the eastern and western hemispheres. Lagerstroemia is the name of the genus and indica is the species, telling us that it is indigenous to India, (but also found in China and Korea). There are actually many species, some botanists acknowledge up to 50.
We are concerned primarily with Lagerstroemia indica because Mother named the flowers of this species and Lagerstroemia speciosa with the famous common names, “Pride of India” and “Queen’s flower”. But there is also a magnificent species, Lagerstroemia faurei with beautiful cinnamon-red bark that peels to reveal many lovely shades of green, tan, rose, and more.
A hyrbrid form of L. indica and L. faurei is the creation of a great plantsman from Houston, Texas, Lynn Lowery, a quiet, unassuming man who loved nature and is revered for his knowledge as a horticulturist and dedicated plant collector who introduced a wealth of plants throughout Texas. He was born in 1917 and passed away 1997. An excellent article on his life with plants is must reading for all who treasure nature.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/heroes/lowrey2.html
Lowery’s hybrid is a much larger tree with exfoliating bark in exquisite shades and splendid grown as a single trunk or multi-trunk specimen.
In subsequent blogs we will learn of all the Crepe myrtles named by Mother together with Her comments.
There are now many excellent shrub forms of Crepe myrtles that are easily grown in a small garden, even in a large container, flowering for many months!
Here is a photo of one of the dwarf forms of “Integral Intimacy with the Divine”. Mother comments: “The entire being no longer vibrates except with the Divine’s touch.”
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