If youve been to Spain you'll have seen lots of Crapemyrtles. No doubt Lynda of Spain has a few.
I received this email from Gene (our forum member from Texas) today:
George, I shipped you a Lagerstroemia indica 'Rosey Carpet' today (7-29-2008 at 3PM CDST, TX. USA). The post office said 1st class air was as good as priority and LOTS cheaper. They also said to expect 7 to 10 days travel. I have never had any experience with that kind of time although I have been successful with 6 days. It still has some soil attached & has a few "soppy wet" paper towels around the roots, this inserted into a plastic sandwich baggie and the bag tied to the stem with a twist tie to conserve moisture. All we can do is hope. They said there were no restrictions on shipping plants to N. Ireland so lets hope it clears customs OK. Crapemyrtles love heat and sun so its survival in your area may be iffy. Sure hope this works. Let me know when it arrives and the condition please. This is a totally new thing for me.
If this works, you will probably be the only person in Ireland to have a 'Rosey Carpet'. It is a patented cultivar developed by Hanbuchen Nursery in Alabama. It will be about 1' tall and will spread to about 4'. When it goes dormant cut it back to less than 6" and wait for spring. It blooms on new wood and is a lovely rose-pink & likes a slightly acid soil about PH 6.5 or so. Now to play with my Pro program and see if I can learn something.
Isnt that exciting! I replied to tell Gene I'll be ready and waiting for its arrival, with a nice cool drink of Irish water at the ready.
Having said that, perhaps it would prefer a patio heater!
Gene propagates and markets these plants. Heres a little web site I did for him:
http://www.ideasforgardens.net/ivys/ From memory, I'm almost certain Chrissie (The Gardener) has grown a Lagerstroemia. I'll get in touch and see if she can give me a few tips.
