Trees That Love Heat | Outside My Window

3 July 2025

While last week’s heat wave broke here on Friday, I was in Virginia where the heat persisted and was even more intense. The temperature got up to 99° in Virginia Beach with a heat index somewhere near 110°F. I don’t remember the number. I stayed indoors. Meanwhile all the plants and animals were stuck outside in adverse conditions but one ornamental tree was thriving. Crape myrtle loves heat.

Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp., also spelled crepe myrtle) is a small ornamental tree or shrub from Asia and the Indian subcontinent that is widely planted in southeastern Virginia. There are many species and many varieties bred for color and local conditions.

The trees that thrive in Virginia Beach are not the same variety that survives in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is too cold for typical crape myrtle so we have to plant cold tolerant varieties. I hear they were slow to bloom during our cold spring.

Thirteen years ago I marveled at crape myrtle’s resilience as I melted in the Virginia heat. Learn more in this vintage article.