Garden Goods Direct Purple Magic Crape Myrtle Trees

Purple Magic Crape Myrtle is a semi-dwarf form of crape myrtle that blooms in early summer with Dark Purple blooms. Purple Magic is a specimen plant and grows into a rounded shrub, with a dense, full shape which makes it perfect for smaller gardens.

Its foliage emerges reddish in color and eventually matures to rich dark glossy green, nicely setting off the dark flowers. It will bloom again in late summer if the first flush of flowers are deadheaded. Purple Magic Crape Myrtle grows best in well-drained soils, and thrives when planted in full sun.

In the mid-1960s, the National Arboretum embarked on a crape myrtle breeding program that continues today, forty-five years later. It was begun by the late Donald Egolf, a research horticulturist whose goal was to produce disease-resistant, cold-hardy crape myrtles.

Crape Myrtle is native from the Himalayas through southern China, southeast Asia and Japan, but has naturalized in the U.S. from Virginia to Arkansas south to Texas and Florida. An additional common name is Lilac of the South in reference to its popularity in southern gardens (USDA Zones 7-9).

In the wild, flowers are typically rose to red. Cultivated varieties have expanded the flower color range to include white, pink, mauve, lavender and purple.

Purple Magic Crape Myrtle has excellent resistance to leaf spot and powdery mildew and is perfect to add a shot of summer color in a foundation planting or as an informal hedge.