red rocket

Although our crepe myrtle tree has been blooming steadily all month, it hasn’t been as full of color as previous years. Our newly planted lantana shrubs are also suffering. This year has just been too wet! These plants thrive in hot, dry summers.

We had an old fashioned pink crepe myrtle in Kansas. But years ago while visiting Houston, I saw this deep red flowering variety planted along Eldridge Parkway — and knew I would one day plant one of my own.

(Oddly, one or two white flowers have popped up on the tree this year, hidden among the red.)