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Crape myrtle
Habit (mature) · Otorikun / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Limited coverage
Crape myrtle
Lagerstroemia indica
A multi-stemmed deciduous shrub or small tree in the loosestrife family, grown across the warm South for its long midsummer show of crinkled, crepe-paper-textured flower panicles. Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder describes rose-to-red bloom from July through September on plants reaching 6 to 25 feet tall, followed by yellow-orange-red fall foliage and smooth, mottled exfoliating bark. Native to China, Indochina, the Himalayas, and Japan — not a North American native — it tolerates drought, clay soil, and urban conditions once established.
Review: Source-backed
Climate fit: narrow (38/100)
Focal point
Structure
Light
Full sun
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
72-300" tall · 96" apart
Hardy in zones
6a-9b
cold to frosty winters
Summer heat range
Warm-Extreme
warm to extreme summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.
Native in Illinois
No
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Plotwright Heat Tier Warm-Extreme per ADR 0021 — a Southern-landscape staple whose summer flowering thrives in hot, humid Gulf and Southeast climates; the Zone 6 cold edge is the limiting factor, not summer heat.
Climate notes
Cold hardiness
Now
Zone 6b
USDA
Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer
Well-suited
2050
Zone 7b
Plotwright
Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)
Well-suited
In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/crape-myrtle
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
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Wikimedia Commons
Photo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Backs 1 field
Image
Community photos
The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.
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