3 July 2025
Whereas final week’s warmth wave broke right here on Friday, I used to be in Virginia the place the warmth endured and was much more intense. The temperature acquired as much as 99° in Virginia Seaside with a warmth index someplace close to 110°F. I don’t keep in mind the quantity. I stayed indoors. In the meantime all of the crops and animals had been caught outdoors in antagonistic circumstances however one decorative tree was thriving. Crape myrtle loves warmth.
Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp., additionally spelled crepe myrtle) is a small decorative tree or shrub from Asia and the Indian subcontinent that’s extensively planted in southeastern Virginia. There are numerous species and many types bred for colour and native circumstances.
The bushes that thrive in Virginia Seaside aren’t the identical selection that survives in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is simply too chilly for typical crape myrtle so we’ve got to plant chilly tolerant varieties. I hear they had been sluggish to bloom throughout our chilly spring.
13 years in the past I marveled at crape myrtle’s resilience as I melted within the Virginia warmth. Be taught extra on this classic article.
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