Crape Myrtle

About this plant

The 'Colorama Scarlet Garden Debut' Crape Myrtle offers an unrivaled spectacle of large, crimped scarlet-red flowers that blanket the tree from summer into fall, transforming your landscape into a fiery display. Its appealing, exfoliating bark peels back to reveal smooth, mottled cinnamon and gray tones, adding year-round visual interest even after the blooms fade. This cultivar is a robust and disease-resistant selection, ensuring a consistent and impressive performance in your garden with minimal fuss. Its upright, vase-shaped habit makes it a versatile specimen, ideal for creating stunning focal points or lining driveways and property perimeters. Choose the 'Colorama Scarlet Garden Debut' for its enduring beauty, ease of care, and an unforgettable celebration of color that will elevate any garden design. It's truly a cut above for vibrant, long-lasting appeal.

Installation timing

When we're in season, outside of the winter months, our goal is to get your plants installed within about two weeks. That window gives us enough time to secure your plants from our supplier and find a spot on the schedule. Throughout the process we stay in touch through notifications and your existing client portal on the main A Cut Above website, which is separate from this landscaping plants shop.

Care & maintenance

Requires minimal pruning; remove spent flowers for continuous blooming. Prune in late winter or early spring to shape and remove any dead or crossing branches. Fertilize in spring with a balanced slow-release fertilizer for optimal growth and flowering.

Watering suggestions

Proper watering is the single most important factor in your plant's survival after installation. Newly installed plants have a limited root system and rely on you for consistent moisture while they establish.

• First 2 weeks: Water deeply every day (or every other day in cooler, wet weather), soaking the root ball and surrounding soil.
• Weeks 3–12: Water deeply 2–3 times per week, adjusting for rain, heat, and soil drainage.
• After establishment: Water deeply about once a week during the growing season, and more often in extreme heat or drought.
• How to check: Stick a finger 2–3 inches into the soil near the roots — if it's dry, it's time to water. Deep, less-frequent watering encourages strong roots; shallow daily sprinkles do not.
• Avoid: Overwatering (soggy, waterlogged soil) is just as harmful as underwatering and can drown roots.

Watering needs vary by plant, season, soil, and exposure. Because proper watering is the customer's responsibility after installation, please make sure you understand and can follow these suggestions before ordering.

Good to know: plants and trees purchased from and installed by A Cut Above include a one-year limited warranty from the date of installation. Because plant survival depends heavily on proper watering and care after installation, losses caused by improper care, neglect, animal or chemical damage, or extreme weather are not covered, and we must be given the chance to inspect a struggling plant before it's removed or replaced. Coverage is one replacement per plant. Read our warranty info.