Plants of the Week for August 26th 2019
Twilight Magic Crape Myrtle is purple leafed crape myrtle that flowers bright pink blooms in August! The contrast is striking! It grows to 16 feet tall and 8 feet wide, so give it some space to grow. Like other crape myrtles they prefer a sunny spot that provides at least 6 hours of direct sun. Twilight Magic is rated to zone 7 or 0 degrees Fahrenheit. In our colder winters they may freeze back to the ground, my tip is to mulch them like a rose bush for winter. Twilight Magic could be used in a combination privacy fence or as a focal point flanked by smaller shrubs and perennials. With both the foliage color and the flowers, you definitely get multi-season interest.
Miss Molly Butterfly Bush is a medium sized butterfly bush of 4 to 5 feet tall and wide. It is also one of the sterile varieties so it’s not prone to reseeding. The red pink blooms come on in July and blooms until fall with the summer heat. Butterflies and other pollinators love their abundant flowers. Miss Molly can be deadheaded to keep it flowering faster between bloom cycles or left alone. Miss Molly is great when added to smaller pollinator gardens as well as mixed flower gardens for mid to late summer color.