Crape Myrtle

The growth habit of this Crape Myrtle is sloooooooooooooow. I don't know if this is normal for a C.M. in my neck of the woods, but it's normal for this little guy. He's more than 7 years old (was in the yard when I purchased this property). Two years ago, I pruned all the lower branches and I staked him up because he's in the path of most of the high winds. He receives morning sun, then at around noon, he's in shade for the rest of the day because he sits underneath the branches of a huge (90-foot-tall) spruce tree.

This is the first year the C.M. has shown more than a couple of flowers. He's covered with light pink blossoms, and I've seen at least one hummingbird collecting nectar in the past couple of days. I have changed his watering this year, and that might account for the extreme increase in blossoms.

Up close, the blossoms are quite lovely.