|
Crape Myrtle - Purple
The Purple Crape Myrtle, 'Lagerstroemia indica "Purpurea", is a handsome, summer-flowering, deciduous small tree or shrub. It is a favorite among Southern gardeners because of its beauty and low maintenance. The crape myrtle is valued mainly for its long period of striking summer flowers. Large clusters of purple flowers appear on the tips of new branches beginning in early summer and continue into fall. After flowers fade and fall from the tree, fruit remains in the form of small brown capsules. These fruits remain throughout the winter providing winter interest along with the attractive, exfoliating bark which peels away to expose a trunk which ranges in color from many handsome shades of brown to gray. The Purple Crape Myrtle is ideally suited for formal or informal design in the home landscape, street plantings and community plantings. It can be planted as a specimen or in groups, and looks attractive when underplanted with a ground cover. Crape myrtle leaves are oval and 1 to 2 inches long; they are bronze-colored when they first unfold in the spring and become yellow, orange or red before falling late in autumn. Crape Myrtle are easy to grow and if they are used for hedges, plant them 4 ot 5 feet apart. ... details
Pignut Hickory The Pignut Hickory tree, Carya glabra, has medium green broad, flat leaves and firm, gray bark. The bark may be marked in a sort of diamond pattern by shallow furrows and narrow ridges. This tree grows well in fairly rich, well drained to dry soils. It occurs with other hickories and with oaks, characteristically on hillsides and ridges. Pignut Hickory trees, as with other hickories, has wood that is tough and strong. The nuts of this particular hickory, unlike some of the others, are bitter and scarcely edible. The nuts they are an important food for squirrels and chipmunks and other wildlife. This shade tree turns a bright yellow for great fall color. |
|
