Don't you just love Myrtle?

Myrtle is everywhere! Crepe Myrtle that is...she is blooming at every intersection, around every parking lot, and is frolicking down the parkway on the road out of Kingwood.

I keep trying to stop on the streets to take Myrtle pictures where there is no parking available. Not everyone appreciates a flower freak hanging out of a car window, blocking traffic. I wonder how people could NOT want to stop and stare at all this beauty along with me!

Crepe Myrtle comes in white, pink, lavender, deep rose, grape, and fuchsia. The south's version of lilac, but sadly, without the scent.


Myrtle does have more than one "party piece" though: After she does her tulle prom dress turn in summer, she steals the show again in autumn, clad in her blazing golds and apricot colored leaves.

And she is not afraid to appear in the nude either...in winter her bare limbs are a smooth pinkish gray with lovely subtle colors splashed about as accent tones.

She also adds brown jingle bell shaped pods to her finger tips, just in time for the holidays.

She sheds her bark as she grows in lovely curls of rusty brown, and is frequently spangled with anoles, bright green colored lizards that pose on Myrtle's limbs, secure that they have found a perfect setting for their tropical reptilian selves.