Twilight Large Deep Purple Crape Myrtle

Purple Crape Myrtles

Twilight is the largest of the deep purple crape myrtles.

Twilight Crape Myrtle

Twilight Purple Crape Myrtle can exceed 25 feet in height it has a lovely bark and its trunks a almost sculptural.

This is a much more prolific and sustained bloomer than Bashan’s Party Pink – and a much superior crape myrtle.

Twilight Large Purple Crape Myrtle does very well in Texas!

The pannicles are fairly large while certainly smaller than the huge pannicles of the Tuscarora crape myrtle. As you can see the blooms and buds are prolific. This is one of the longest blooming purple crape myrtles and certainly the largest. Winner, winner, winner.

Mature Height:	20-25 ft.
Mature Width:	10-20 ft.
Sunlight:	Full
Soil Conditions:	Adaptable
Drought Tolerance:	Good
Botanical Name:	Lagerstroemia indica ‘Twilight’

Twilight purple crape myrtles. The largest purple crape myrtle with one of the longest blooming periods for the purples.

Located in the Wilson Historic Distric Dallas Texas

This park located one block north of Baylor Hospital in Dallas and a part of the Meadows Foundation Wilson Historic District is beyond beautiful when the all purple crape myrtles are in full bloom and the blossoms blow and drift in the wind.

Twilight Purple Crape Myrtle reaches over 25 feet when mature.

Another view of the Twilight Purple Crape Myrtle. The growth habit lends itself to creating a ‘crape myrtle alley.’

Twilight Crape Myrtle - Darkest Purple Large Crape Myrtle

Like all the ‘large’ crape myrtles, Twilight grows three to five feet a year. This is common for Muskogee, Natchez, Tuskegee and Tuscarora Crape Myrtles.

My Fundamental Gardening Tools

The fundamental tools for gardening for me are: Osmocote fertilizer, a five pound pick ax, water retaining pellets or crystals and timer soaker hoses. The little pick ax lives at my back door with my gardening shoes. I use it to hack out a weed, pop a hole for a plant or trench for fertilizer.

I always use water retaining pellets for new plants with a bit of Osmocote. I have tried the sprayer fertilizer feeder and other fertilizers, Osmocote is easy and always works. The soaker hose saves water and is much more effective than a sprinkler system.

Crape Myrtle Bark Can be Beautiful

Velma

Believe this is Velma – not 100 percent sure.

Zuni

The beautiful Zuni crape myrtle reaches ten to twelve feet in Texas with the deep almost crayola colored purple.

The beautiful Zuni crape myrtle compliments the brick color and provides almost a full three months of summer color!

This Zuni purple crape myrtle blends beautiful with Knockout roses and their scarlet color.

Muskogee

Muskogee is a light lavender with weeping blooms much like Natchez.

Muskogee Lavender Crape Myrtle reaches twenty to twenty-five in height. It blooms on draping, arching branches with large pannicles.

This mature Muskogee Lavender Crape Myrtle demonstrates the umbrella arch of the Muskogee reaching almost thirty feet in height. It blooms on draping, arching branches with large pannicles.

Muskogee Crape Myrlte Lavender with Summer Phlox

Muskogee Crape Myrtle Lavender with Summer Phlox

Spanish Lavender

Great compliment to purple crape myrtles. Crapes allow sufficient sun to work with perennials.

Spanish Lavender good companion plant for crape myrtles and the bees love it.

Spanish Lavender: more important than ever to help the bees.

Lavender Shamrock

Spanish Lavender and Purple Shamrock good combinations with purple crapes.

Lavender Standard Crape Myrtle

Another popular but smaller crape is the Hardy Lavender Standard Crape Myrtle

These crapes reach fifteen feet – with a more arching shape similar to the single trunk Natchez.

The pannicles are small, the bloom time is short – and a one on one comparison leaves this crape a little behind others in its class. That being said, it is still a BEAUTIFUL and LOVELY crape myrtle, obviously.

Hardy Lavender crape myrtle – any crape myrtle that is pruned to one trunk is known as a ‘standard.’

Royalty

Purple Velvet Smaller than Dwarf - Miniature Crape Myrtle

This is the deepest purple dwarf/miniature crape I have seen.

Height: Four to five feet is the claim. I think the height is truly closer to four feet at maturity at least in Texas where everything is bigger, well, at least in the Crape Myrtle World. Our crapes really do often exceed by twenty percent the stated maximum height of a crape myrtle.

Miniature_Purple_Crape_Myrtle_Texas_Lee_Ann_Torrans_Dallas_Gardening-5

The claim is that this crape is hardy in Zone 6 – which is at variance with most crapes hardy only to zone 7.

An absolutely magnificent crape. I hope to obtain more images in less bright light soon. This is a stunning bloomer with an incredibly deep color that I am afraid the images above failed to fully capture.

Catawba

I have mixed feelings about this crape myrtle. Its pannicles really are a vivid lavender. Its leaves are glossier and larger than most crapes and its spectacle is brighter and more unique. Some will love this, others may not. It’s a different kind of crape myrtle to be sure!!!