What Is This.

[Rich]

This shrub is all over the warmer parts of France mainly in tree form. They are all along the sides of the roads as small trees in the villages around Bordeaux.

I think they are fantastic, and spent a lot of time looking for them in the garden centres there to no avail.

Anyone any idea what it is?

Sorry for the small pic.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richard.hassett1/gifs2/whatisit.jpg

[decompost]

:wub: crape myrtle :D (lagerstroemia indica)

~~stepped outside to count, i've got 12 of them along the back fence line. :wub:
<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>guess i kinda like 'em too ^_^ </span>

[Rich]

Lucky you.

Thanks for that. I've just been reading up on them. One site says cold hardy to 5f the other says zone 6. Hmmmmm looks like they don't know.

[Ginny42]

Don't believe them when they say zone 6 for this plant! :lol: It will die down to the ground every year and never grow back large enough to flower before the frost hits it again. I think it will do fine in your climate though Rich. Try one, you'll like it! :D

[MaryG]

They sure are pretty Rich, I don't blame you for wanting one.

[MrSeedy]

I agree with Ginny and wouldn't expect them to survive winters much past zone 7 or I'd have them already planted in my zone 5-6 garden. I think they're beautiful but I'd have to grow them as a container plant I could winter in an unheated garage or some such here to keep them from freezing too badly. I know of one garden expert who, swore by "the burrying trick" where she'd loosen the roots on one side of the tree every fall, and then would dig a trench on that side of the tree, and then would bury the whole thing and cover than with insulation for the winter, til it was time to dig it back up , right it , and then enjoy the flowers again for another summer. Obviously , the bigger it would get over the years the more effort and time it would take to do that every fall and spring, though some folks do the same thing with their fig trees in cold zones to keep them alive through the winters. As much as I'm tempted to try that burrying trick for some unusal and especially showy plants, I know I'd get tired of the extra work once the tree got to a "hard to manage" size!! However Rich, I do think from what I've heard about English weather in general , that they might be hardy for most parts of England!!

[DandyLioness]

Very very pretty! :wub:

[Rich]

They make them in all different colours, but at risk of sounding a bit girly, I like the pale pink one best.

[decompost]

they are deciduous here, and have not suffered winter kill with occasional temps dipping into the low teens (farenh).
i'd add one other point, if you are shopping for one,
many varieties are very suseptable to powdery mildew if there is too much moisture or humidity.
i'd select a variety which is tested and marketed to be resistant,
because although the mildew isn't deadly, it can certainly make them unattractive.