PIcs

Crepe myrtle for reference.

Correct, Heptacodium. The bees and other pollinators it attracts are one of the reasons it's one of my favorite plants in the yard.

Another reason I really like it are the long lasting red calyces that develop in October. Here's the largest of 3 that I have in the yard (first photo 10/9/21, second 10/28/21)

Wow, Dave, that is nice! I’ll have to check the progress of my solo H., but I’m pretty sure it won’t look like that.

My impression is that the calyces only turn red when the weather is warm/hot in September.

I'll photograph mne again in a few weeks. I don't recall a shoy red...maybe I missed it lol.

Those look great, mine has never done as well with the red, even though it does bloom heavily.

I saw a named form which was supposed to be more dependable with the red, but it was also listed as 10 ft mature height and I was bummed it wouldn't be as big a feature as the one I have.

I believe there are two cultivars currently on the market - Temple of Bloom and Tianshan. Both are supposed to be somewhat more compact than the straight species. Temple of Doom is also advertised to start blooming a bit earlier and have deeper red "bracts".

My largest plant, which is sited in full sun, has colored reliably from year to year (once it was fully established). Most years the calyces turn red the first week of October and still have some color into the first week of November (unless we get a hard freeze before then). Here are a couple more photos - one from early October last year, and one from early November a few years ago.

10/2/21

11/3/19