Ï Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
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Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun

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Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun
Lagerstroemia’s place under the sun

Gardeners commonly know these plants as crape myrtles, while dendrologists refer to them as Lagerstroemia indica after the Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström. Despite its name, the wonderful shrub with a woody trunk originated in China, not in India. But it spread across the Mediterranean coast from India through the enthusiastic and zealous efforts of the merchant von Lagerström. That is why these ‘transit’ plants have their names associated with India.

Praised for their bright masses of flowering blooms, stunningly looking crape myrtles are well adapted to growing in Central Asia, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and undoubtedly adorn the façade of any house or public garden. They closely resemble lilacs, and bloom in the summer not in the spring. Crape myrtles in the Ashgabat Botanical Garden tend to captivate and delight visitors with their exquisite beauty for two months.

Lagerstroemia, a true beauty, has its place under the sun: while other plants suffer in hot weather, it is drought and heat tolerant. What is more, crape myrtles do well in most any kind of soil: highly fertile soils boost leaf growth rather than blooms. By the way, new leaves emerge tinted bronze, maturing to green and turning to purple in the autumn. What sets Lagerstroemia apart from other plants and makes it uniquely beautiful, is an abundance of large flower clusters ranging in color from crimson to cherry.

According to senior researcher of the Ashgabat Botanical Garden’s Department of Dendrology Enejan Amatova, crape myrtles can be propagated easily from seeds and stem cuttings twice a year - in the spring and autumn. Pruning new branches help gardeners to give crape myrtles either tree or shrub forms. If desired, these exotic beauties can be grown as houseplants.

Ashgabat’s tree-planting and landscaping services have chosen crape myrtles among floral favorites, and the plants, as if in consideration for the attention to them, have splashed the capital with fiery crimson blooms.

Tamara Glazunova
Photo by Yuri Shkurin