Full sun; deciduous, with pale silvery-pink flowers throughout the warm season. Basham’s is a very large 40′ crape myrtle. The name commemorates Bill Basham, the city of Houston’s horticulturist in the 1970s. In addition to the usual benefits of crape myrtle (polished, exfoliating bark and dappled shade), this one is fast-growing, boasts a longer blooming season and shows improved resistance to powdery mildew. It has been listed as a Superstar by Texas A&M.
If you’re a fan of the practice of crepe murder (chopping the tops off crape myrtles in winter), you should definitely give this one a pass – it is much too big and graceful to deform.
Expect flower petals to litter the ground during summer. In general, pruning can be performed every four to six years; focus on minimizing dead, damaged, or rubbing branches, and removing no more than 25% of the canopy during any five-year period. Leave the upper 2/3 of the crown uncut to maintain a healthy specimen.
Mulch with about 2″ of woodchips or pine bark wherever possible. (A six-foot diameter mulched area is the minimum.) If natural rainfall has been absent for a month or more in drought years and the tree seems badly stressed, water the area beneath the canopy.
