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Crape Myrtle - White
The crape myrtle is valued mainly for its long period of striking summer flowers. Large clusters of white flowers appear on the tips of new branches beginning in early summer and continue into fall. These fruits remain throughout the winter providing winter interest along with the attractive, exfoliating bark which peels away to expose a trunk which ranges in color from many handsome shades of brown to gray. The White Crape Myrtle is ideally suited for formal or informal design in the home landscape, street plantings and community plantings. It can be planted as a specimen or in groups, and looks attractive when underplanted with a ground cover. Crape Myrtle are easy to grow and if they are used for hedges, plant them 4 ot 5 feet apart. Crape myrtle leaves are oval and 1 to 2 inches long; they are bronze-colored when they first unfold in the spring and become yellow, orange or red before falling late in autumn. It is a favorite among Southern gardeners because of its beauty and low maintenance. After flowers fade and fall from the tree, fruit remains in the form of small brown capsules. The White Crape Myrtle, 'Lagerstroemia indica "Alba", is a handsome, summer-flowering, deciduous small tree or shrub. ... more
Black Oak One of the main differences include its ability to thrive on poor and varied soils. The thick, nearly black bark is marked with deep furrows and irregularly broken ridges. It is sometimes called yellow oak, quercitron, yellowbark oak, or smoothbark oak. This deciduous tree has deeply furrowed bark and on mature trees is nearly black. Still, it is used in much the same ways. It generally is inferior to that of the Red Oak. This moderately growing oak tree grows on dry uplands, slopes and ridges. The Black Oak tree, Quercus velutina, is very similar in appearance to the Red Oak. The wood, while hard and strong is not tough. Black Oak trees occur naturally on poor sandy or clay hillsides. The characteristic inner bark is bright yellow to orange, hence the alternate common name of Yellow Oak. |
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