Crape Myrtle Types

Container Varieties

• The types of crape myrtle shrubs suitable as container plants are those that grow to mature heights in the 1- to 3-foot range. Gamad is such a cultivar, growing to 3 feet, blooming in July and producing a cherry-red flower. Chickasaw is appropriate for containers on patios, as it stays between 12 and 24 inches high and blooms from July to the first frost. Houston is a small, weeping crape myrtle variety, featuring what the Missouri Botanical Garden describes as watermelon-red flowers.

Hedge Varieties

• Some crape myrtles serve as hedges, especially in the Southern states where they survive the winter without dying to the ground. Country Red is such a shrub, a cultivar generating brilliant-red blooms with yellow centers. Country Red grows as high as 10 feet. Hopi is a cultivar with excellent mildew resistance. The leaves of Hopi are dark green and change to red-orange in autumn, while the flowers are light shades of pink. Hopi and a similar cultivar, Zuni, are appropriate for creating hedges.

Privacy Screen Varieties

• When a crape myrtle grows to the 15-foot high range, it can be part of a privacy screen. Planted along property lines or the street, such cultivars of crape myrtle obscure the view of passersby. Choctaw is a good fit as a screen, growing as tall as 18 feet and spreading as wide as 20. It turns out pink flowers from July into September. Near East matures to 18 feet high and just as wide, blooming in July with shell-pink flowers. The flowers of Tuscarora are coral pink. This crape myrtle shrub grows as tall as 16 feet.

Group Planting Varieties

• Crape myrtles growing between 3 and 6 feet are suitable for group plantings. This takes advantage of the shrub's flowering ability. Victor is one crape myrtle that works for such a function, growing to 6 feet and featuring a rounded appearance. Victor's flowers are a dark shade of red. Petite Snow, a 3 to 4 foot high cultivar, has dark-green leaves contrasting with its white flowers. Seminole grows about twice as tall, developing pink flowers in July and appropriate as part of a group of crape myrtles.