Top 10 Crape Myrtles for Exfoliating Bark

Although the late blooming flowers of crape myrtles make for great floral company during the mid to late summer, it is the gorgeous peeling bark and autumn colors of an exfoliating crape myrtle in the fall that lets some varieties of crape myrtles really shine. Here are the best 10 species and cultivars of crape myrtles for exfoliating bark.

Acoma Semi-Dwarf

Acoma semi-dwarf crape myrtles grow to a maximum height of around ten feet and have modest white flowers. Acoma's fall colors range from red to purple, and their attractive peeling bark provides pleasant company during the colder months.

Biloxi

Biloxi is one of the tallest varieties of crape myrtle around, often growing in excess of thirty feet in height. During the autumn, cultivators of Biloxi crape myrtles are rewarded with orange and red coloring with great exfoliate bark.

Choctaw

Choctaw's autumn shade is an unusual deep maroon that makes this small tree an ideal candidate to add a splash of unusual color in the fall months. Flowers are bunches of pink during the summer months on a tree that rarely grows higher than fifteen feet.

Christiana

In my opinion, Christiana crape myrtles are a great specimen to have around just about year round that never dominates an area with its upright form that reaches a height of about ten feet at maturity. The flowers are a beautiful dark red in the summer followed by shades of orange and red in the autumn, with the constant companionship of luxuriously exfoliating bark.

Commanche

Although many gardeners pick commanche crape myrtle for it cones of coral pink flowers, the fairly thick trunks of gentling peeling bark provide a pleasant highlight in a landscape once the leaves and flowers have come and gone. Autumn shades are orange and red.

Tuscarora

Tuscarora is a tall and popular cultivar of crape myrtle with dramatic exfoliating bark and large bright bunches of dark pink flowers. This tree can grow nearly three stories high and has a broad, vase-like form.

Osage

This type of crape myrtle has an unusual habit and oddly shaped bunches of pink flowers during the summer. The attractive peeling bark still makes osage crape myrtle a perennial favorite. This cultivar is fairly hardy and grows from 15-20' tall.

Natchez

If you have the space available, Natchez crape myrtle is a tall, proud variety of the species that has a broad form stretching as high as 30'. The broad, exfoliating trunks of Natchez crape myrtles are particularly attractive, as are the red and orange autumn colors.

Miami

Miami crate myrtles are another variety that look great just about all year round. During the spring, they are a tight, stoic tree with upright branches and bright green foliage, followed by formal, conical bunches of pink flowers in the summer and orange coloring in the fall. Great exfoliating bark accompanies the show all year round.

Hopi

A decidedly less formal cultivar, Hopi crape myrtles reach a height 8-10 feet and have round clusters of flowers reminiscent of a rhododendron. This natural looking crape myrtle has some of the peeling bark that so many gardeners are looking for.

Lipan

According to many gardening experts, the best cultivar of crape myrtle of beautiful exfoliating bark is Lipan. If the trunk of a crape myrtle has ever caused you to do a double take at its stunning white bark exfoliating to a dark brown layer underneath, it is likely that you were looking at a Lipan crape myrtle. This cultivar grows from 15'-20' high.

Sources:

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/trees/crapemyrtle/crape_myrtle_varieties.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagerstroemia