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.