Black Diamonds are a gardener’s best friend. Keep the “four C’s” in mind when caring for your Black Diamond ^® Crapemyrtles: Color, Carats, Clarity, and Cut. (And don’t forget to select a great setting!) Here’s how to care for your Black Diamond ^® Crapemyrtles so they truly are forever beautiful in the landscape.

All black diamonds have gorgeous black leaves, but the flowers come in a rainbow of colors. Which will look best in your garden? 

• Best Red
• Crystalline
• Lavender Lace
• Mystic Magenta
• Pave Pink
• Purely Purple
• Precious Pink
• Radiant Red

Black Diamond ^® Crapemyrtles thrive and show off their colors when they have plenty of sunlight.

Make sure they receive at least 6-8 hours of sun per day for truly lustrous black foliage. If you find that the tips of the branches aren't leafing out in the spring, they might have experienced a bit of winterkill. Just cut back to green growth.

Looking for something small and sparkly or big and bodacious? Find the Black Diamond ^® that’s the perfect size for its home.

Open Tree Form

• Black Diamond ^® Blush ^™
• Black Diamond ^® Red Hot ^™
• Black Diamond ^® Shell Pink ^™
• Black Diamond ^® Pure White ^™

Tree or Shrub Form

• Black Diamond ^® Crimson Red ^™
• Black Diamond ^® Mystic Magenta ^™
• Black Diamond ^® Purely Purple ^™

Bushy Shrub Form

• Black Diamond ^® Best Red ^™
• Black Diamond ^® Lavender Lace ^™

What's a gorgeous diamond without the right setting?

Black Diamond ^® Crapemyrtles are cold hardy (will survive the winter) in zones 6 and higher. In zones 2, 3, 4 and 5, you can still enjoy Black Diamond ^® Crapemyrtles as thriller plants in container gardens, or as annuals in the landscape. During particularly cold years in zone 6, Black Diamonds might die back to the ground, but they will re-emerge in the spring with fresh new foliage

To Plant:

1. Set the container on the ground where you want the plant to be.
2. Use a shovel to dig a circle around the container so you'll end up with a hole about twice as wide as the container.
3. Dig a hole that is just as deep as the container. (Test the depth by sitting the container in the hole. The top of the soil in the container should be at or slightly above the edge of the planting hole.)
4. Remove the plant from the container and place it in the planting hole.
5. Fill in the hole with the same soil you removed. Do not mix the soil with anything or refill the hole with completely different soil.
6. Spread mulch 3 inches deep around the base of the plant, taking care not to let the mulch touch the plant stems.
7. Water well and enjoy!

Select a pot or container that is at least six inches wider in diameter than the pot containing the Black Diamond ^® Crapemyrtle. Fill the pot about halfway with soil and then place the plant in the container. You will want the top of the rootball of the plant to rest about 1 inch below the top of the container, leaving room for watering.

To prune as a small tree, select the best three to five upright growing branches and trim away the other branches crowding out the main limbs

To maintain as a shrub, decide the height you’d like to maintain and cut back branches that are unevenly tall or taller than you wish to that height. Always cut back to a leaf. Vary the height of cut branches slightly (2-3 inches) with the center slightly taller than the outside of the shrub.

Fertilize once per year in the late Spring when new growth starts to emerge. Use a balanced slow release fertilizer according to package instructions. 

Use a bloom booster fertilizer in the summer if you are not seeing flowers by July/August.

Water your Black Diamond ^® Crape Myrtles every other day after you plant them in the ground and twice a week right after they have been planted in containers. After two weeks, water when the top inch of soil is dry (every four to five days, approximately). After six weeks, cut back to water every 10 days or so. If you are not seeing blooms by Mid-Summer, cut back on watering.

Introduce a vibrant cast of characters to your garden! Hollywood Hibiscus are beautiful blooming tropical shrubs that will absolutely transform your yard into a tropical paradise! Get ready to enjoy tons of gorgeous flowers from spring until frost with these great tips.

Like any big star, Hollywood Hibiscus plants love the heat and the sun! The longer & brighter the better, and the more blooms you'll get. They make great annuals in the landscape and fantastic thrillers in container gardens.

6-8 hours of sunlight per day

Hollywoods are a thirsty crowd. Make sure the soil in their containers stays evenly moist - not sopping wet - but about as damp as a wrung-out sponge.

Check soil for moisture daily during the summer.

To keep their "runway ready" look, Hollywood Hibiscus need to be fed with a balanced or low phosphorus fertilizer. When looking at the numbers on a fertilizer label, the center number should be the same or lower than the numbers on either side. For example, the numbers could look like this: 10-10-10 (balanced) or 12-6-8 (lower in phosphorous). Do not use "bloom booster" formulas on your Hollywoods.

Feed according to package instructions.

Some stars are high maintenance in the hair department, but not Hollywood Hibiscus. Let them grow during the summer and enjoy their masses of beautiful blooms. If they grow larger than you'd planned, you can selectively trim back individual branches to different heights to maintain a natural look while reducing size. (Think "long layers.")

Plant Hollywood Hibiscus in containers that are at least 10-12 inches wide, using high quality potting mix. Accessorize with other water-loving plants including strawberries, sweet potato vines, creeping jenny, asparagus fern, and million bells

If you haven't fertilized the plants at all, try fertilizing them. If you have been fertilizing, they could be getting too much phosphorous.

This is rare but can happen to plants that are moved a lot. Try to let your Hollywoods sunbathe in peace. (Don't turn them frequently.)

Indoors, spider mites and aphids can attack tropical hibiscus. Elevate humidity high around the plants to prevent problems. Outdoors, pets problems are fewer. Try blasting the plants with water first, and then use insecticidal soap.

Hollywoods are definitely fair weather plants when it comes to outdoor living. If you live in zone 8 or higher, cut plants back to 6-8 inches tall and place them somewhere warm, bright, and slightly humid. Cut back a bit on watering, only giving them a drink when the soil is dry. They’ll slow down or stop blooming. Just move them back outside again when nighttime temperatures are above 65 degrees. Alternatively, you can compost them in the winter and start fresh with new plants in the spring!