Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.) sells by virtue of its frilly summer blooms alone, and where it’s hardy enough to grow sizable trunks, the exfoliating bark is a bonus, but how little ink is devoted to praising its fall color!

Some plants take on deep purpley tones that redden over time.  Many selections, like ‘Hopi’ and ‘Catawba,’ are set ablaze with an intense sunset pink-orange, while gold flames flicker among their shaded interior leaves.

A few varieties have more colors all at once than a basket full of rainbow chard.  Some of their green and purple leaves even appear to have a bluish sheen to them, thus spelling out Roy G. Biv in full.

Forsythia ushers in the spring with a joyous, wild yelp and lights up landscapes everywhere in March.  Nothing is more exuberant then.

Disdain for this plant, however, is widespread.  Many fault it for being too brassy, too loud.  Overplanted.  I like that it’s a crazy primal scream.  After all, it’s spring!

As for being overplanted, do the Dutch complain about having too many tulips?  Do the residents of Washington, D.C. grow tired of their flowering cherries?

It’s a shame that detractors are so busy beating forsythia up, because they fail to notice that it does have a softer side–in fall, with ruddy purple, rose, and yellow fall color.