Black Diamond® Blush™ Crape Myrtle Shrub

Availability: Out of stock
SKU
BDBCM

Whisper-pink Blush™ Crape Myrtle shrub (Lagerstroemia BLACK DIAMOND 'Blush') makes a fantastic statement in the landscape, no matter where you place it! Fetching, pale-pink blooms light up the black foliage from early summer through fall.

The charming blossoms are held in large clusters, and borne above the black foliage. Your shrub will be covered in these romantic, soft drifts of color for months each year! The deeply colored foliage emerges almost black in appearance. The color stays true all season long, and its incredible flowering display lasts for months!

It looks showy and sweet for most of the year. Hummingbirds and butterflies will love your yard, but you won't have to worry about deer having the same interest. Even the smooth bark is pretty for winter interest! Black Diamond® Crape Myrtles are easy-care, dependable, and disease-resistant. Blush™ is more resistant to powdery mildew than other Crape Myrtle varieties! Hardy throughout USDA growing zones 6 to 10, Blush™ grows 10-12 feet in height and spreads up to 8 feet wide.

Planting and Application:

Blush™ is so versatile and easy to grow! You can enjoy it full-size as a "garden room divider" to create personalized outdoor spaces or retreats. Imagine this as a backdrop for on-pointe social media photos. Everyone looks good in pink! Entertain in style with these versatile and easy-care shrubs. Use them throughout your Cottage gardens, front yard foundation plantings, and as garden focal points.

It also handles pruning like a champ and can be easily kept at a gorgeous three-foot flowering hedge. What a friendly way to define your property! Blush™ Crape Myrtle is a very effective flowering privacy screen. Invite your friends to swim without worrying about the nosy neighbor. Think of Blush™ as a living green wall. You'll triple the feel of your space if it is used to divide your narrow, long lot into thirds.

Expand the mulch to include a curved bed 15 feet from the corner of your house. Use Blush™ as an anchor in your foundation planting. These attractive shrubs will effortlessly jazz up anything you might have going on in your landscape, plus they're low-maintenance and look great grown naturally. Repeat their use along the length of your perennial bed for a bold backdrop. Or, use them all on their own in a special shrub border.

This is a great choice to polish up the presentation of mature, or "inherited" plantings. Fix up your fixer-upper with Blush™ Crape Myrtle. Charming Blush™ Crape Myrtle coordinates beautifully with any other plant, as well. As a bet, just try to find a color or form of leaf, flower, berry, or branch that wouldn't work very well with Blush™.

Want to make something easy and "tropical-looking" happen on your patio? Try it in a large container for an instant eye-catcher. It can be kept within a 12-inch pot...and remember, it's always 5:00 somewhere! Arrange your container-grown Blush™ Crape Myrtle as a backdrop plant behind other container gardens. Pair it with an Improved Dwarf Meyer Lemon or Bearrs Lime tree kept in up to 20-inch containers.

Consider using these sweet plants as small-scale, multi-trunked trees. Using sharp loppers, prune the lower branches off of the trunks. Expose more of the trunk and you'll turn the top canopy leaves and flowers into a head. With the dark leaves and the bright white blooms, this would be quite a nice contrast. A little training would give you the upright growth that makes it look more like a tree than a shrub.

  • Heart-Melting Blush Pink Blooms
  • Reliable Black Foliage Contrasts Beautifully
  • Valuable Nectar Source for Butterflies & Hummingbird Magnet
  • Works in Containers & As Specimen Plantings
  • Flowering Hedge or "Living Wall" in Outdoor Garden Rooms

#ProPlantTips for Care:

In Zone 6, Blush™ should be considered a perennial. You'll cut it down to the ground each spring. Northern gardeners in Zones 3, 4, and 5 can easily grow them in seasonal containers. Overwinter your container in an unheated garage or shed and treat it as a perennial with new growth from the roots. New growth will develop from the roots and it will grow and flower as a shorter plant that season.

Plant Blush™ Crape Myrtles in full sun with at least six hours of direct sunlight a day. If you can, try to provide morning sun, which will quickly dry morning dew from the foliage. Situate your shrub in well-drained soil. Create a raised bed for planting, or use them in containers, if you have soil that remains wet for a long time after rain.

Crapes love good air circulation. Plant Blush™ at least 15 feet away from structures, so the air can reach all the way through every branch. Apply a three-inch layer of pine straw or pine bark mulch. Pull the mulch at least six inches away to ensure that the mulch doesn't touch the stems.

Young shrubs should be well-hydrated with regular watering every few days. You can move to a weekly soaking after a month. Do this for several months, if not a bit longer. Technically, Blush™ Crape Myrtles will develop a moderate resistance to drought; so go ahead and enjoy your vacation! But...just know that you'll get better blooms and stronger performance if you apply supplemental water when it's dry.

Apply an organic, slow-release fertilizer designed for flowering plants in early spring. Follow application rates on the label. Avoid lawn fertilizers that are nitrogen-rich, as they will reduce the amount of bloom.

Prune in early spring by removing old wood, and eliminating branches that cross over one another. You'll also hard prune to control size at this time. Deadhead after flowers after they fade to encourage a rebloom later on.

Although deer seldom severely damage Crape Myrtles, you should apply repellent if you live in an area with heavy deer pressure. Deer are curious and they are hungry. Reapply according to the label directions.

  • Care-Free In Full Sun
  • Becomes Moderately Drought Tolerant Once Established
  • Can Be Controlled for Size With Hard Pruning in Spring
  • Improved Cultivar is Resistant to Powdery Mildew, Pests & Diseases
  • Deer Don't Prefer the Taste

This is a simple shrub to grow into a beautiful, healthy statement piece! We know you'll fall in love with the beauty this shrub brings to your landscape. Order Black Diamond® Blush™ Crape Myrtle from the experts at Nature Hills today!

Single Stem, Multi Stem, Shrub Form, Oh My!

Before you buy, make sure you know what you’re getting! Single-stem, multi-stem and shrub forms are different so read a bit about which we’re currently offering below.

Single Stem: 

These are plants that have one stem coming from the ground. Plants can also be considered single stem when lower branches are removed to raise the height of the branching. Sometimes, you will hear a single stem referred to as Tree Form.

Multi Stem:

These are plants with 2 or more stems planted together in the ground in close proximity to form a clump. There are times multi-stems are formed by a tree that branches at the soil line with more than one main stem. 

Shrub Form:

These are bushy plants with many stems and branchings close to the ground. They are referred to as shrubs or bushes and are often shorter than their tree forms.

Buying Options for Plants

Nature Hills sells a large variety of plants with several options available. Plants are offered in both potted containers and as dormant bare root without soil. Here is a helpful resource to understand your options as you create a beautiful landscape with help from Nature Hills.

Ever wonder what a larger plant will mean for your landscape? Container Sizes are really all about the age of the plant!

Seasonally, Nature Hills offers hand selected, high quality bare root trees, shrubs and perennials. Bare root plants are sold by height from the top of the root system to the top of the plant. Plants may be taller than the height minimums.

  • Popular sizes of select trees are 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet, etc.
  • Popular sizes of select bare root plants is 1 foot, 18 inches, etc.

Nature Hills Container Size by Volume

Keep in mind, specific varieties and different growing conditions can affect the rate at which plants grow. Variations in size may occur.

Young Plants to 18 Months
Size Volume
2"x2"x3" Ranges from .18 to .21 dry quarts / .198 to .23 dry liters in volume
4.5" Container Equal to .65 dry quart / .72 dry liter in volume
Sprinter Pot Equal to .63 dry quart / .69 dry liter in volume
4" Container Ranges from .31 to .87 / .35 to .96 dry liter in volume
6" Container Equal to 1.4 dry quarts / 1.59 dry liters in volume
1 Quart Equal to 1 dry quart / 1.1 dry liter in volume
5.5" Container Equal to 1.89 of a dry quart / 2.08 dry liters in volume
4"x4"x5" Ranges from .8 to 1.1 dry quarts / .88 to 1.2 dry liters in volume
4"x4"x6" Ranges from 1.0 to 1.3 dry quarts / 1.1 to 1.41 dry liters in volume
4"x4"x9" Ranges from 1.1 to 2.1 dry quarts / 1.2 to 2.3 dry liters in volume
4"x4"x10" Ranges from 1.7 to 2.3 dry quart / 1.87 to 2.53 dry liters in volume
Plants 18 Months - 2.5 Years Old
Size Volume
2 Quart Equal to 2 dry quarts / 2.2 dry liters in volume
#1 Container Ranges from 2.26 to 3.73 dry quarts / 2.49 to 4.11 dry liters in volume
5"x5"x12" Equal to 3.5 to 4.3 dry quarts / 3.85 to 4.74 dry liters in volume
Plants 2 - 4 Years Old
Size Volume
#2 Container Ranges from 1.19 to 1.76 dry gallons / 5.24 to 7.75 dry liters in volume
#3 Container Ranges from 2.32 to 2.76 dry gallons / 10.22 to 12.16 dry liters in volume
Plants 3 - 5 Years Old
Size Volume
#5 Container Ranges from 2.92 to 4.62 dry gallons / 12.86 to 20.35 dry liters in volume
#6 Container Ranges from 5.25 to 6.01 dry gallons / 23.12 to 26.42 dry liters in volume
#7 Container Ranges from 5.98 to 6.08 dry gallons / 26.34 to 26.78 dry liters in volume

About Plant Sentry™

Plant Sentry is designed to protect both consumers and the nursery trade from invasive plant pests and diseases. Sites that display the Plant Sentry protection badge are protected from consumers buying and nurseries shipping material carrying invasive pests and diseases.

This proprietary eCommerce software prevents the shipment of a restricted plant to each state. The Plant Sentry system includes a shipment certification program. The Plant Sentry Compliance Officer works closely with NatureHills.com and each nursery or fulfillment center to ensure only compliant plants are sold to customers.

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Plant Sentry

Shipping

To obtain a more accurate shipment time-frame, simply enter your zip code in the “Find Your Growing Zone” box to the right. Our plants are grown all over the country and lead time on items may be different because of this. Once your order is placed, you will also receive the specific shipment time-frame information as part of your order confirmation. Once an item ships, you will receive shipment notification and tracking numbers, so you can follow along while your plant travels to your doorstep. We use FedEx, UPS, or USPS at our discretion.

Due to winter weather we have put a hold on shipping to the areas shown below in grey. You can still order now and we will ship the plant to you during an appropriate time for your zone.

*If you have found your zone already, it will be highlighted in the table below.
Color Zone Times
3 Spring 2019
4 Now
5 Now
6 Now
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10 Now
11 Now

Shipping Rates

At Nature Hills we handle, package and ship the products you order with the utmost care to ensure healthy delivery. Shipping and handling charges are calculated based on the tables below. Please note that some items include an additional handling surcharge, these will be noted on the item's product page.

From To S&H
0 - 19.99 24.99
20 - 49.99 29.99
50 - 69.99 34.99
70 - 99.99 39.99
100 - 129.99 44.99
130 - 149.99 48.99
150 - 150+ Approx 28%

Click here to see our full rates

PLANT HIGHLIGHTS

Black Diamond® Blush™ Crape Myrtle Shrub Is Suited to Grow in Zones 6-10
Growing Zones 6-10
More Information
Brand Black Diamond
Botanical Name Lagerstroemia BLACK DIAMOND 'Blush'
Type Deciduous
Mature Height 10 - 12 feet
Mature Spread 8 feet
Sun Exposure Full Sun
Soil Well-Drained
Moisture Moderate to Low Once Established
Growth Rate Medium
Flower Color Blush Pink
Foliage Color Black
Pollinator Friendly Yes
Pruning Time Early Spring