A violet flowering cloud
Generous terminal clusters carry a violet to purple tone and a light, crinkled texture.
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Wave after wave of violet flowers. Simply irresistible! 💜
Family: Lythraceae · Pot diameter: 19cm (3L) · Height: 40cm
Lagerstroemia indica With Love® Eternal (‘Milavio’) fills summer with abundant violet to purple flower clusters, like a vivid cloud of colour above a dense dark green base. Its compact, freely branching outline feels full and polished without overwhelming the setting. On a sunny terrace or near the front of a border, it becomes an immediate floral focal point, drawing the eye and bringing luxurious, joyful energy to the planting.
Crinkled petals gather in terminal clusters and open successively through the warm season. Before leaf fall, the foliage may move through yellow, orange and red tones, adding a second chapter of colour after flowering.
Lagerstroemia indica With Love® Eternal (‘Milavio’) received a silver medal at Plantarium in 2015.
Violet flowers, compact branching and warm autumn foliage provide colour across two successive seasons.
Generous terminal clusters carry a violet to purple tone and a light, crinkled texture.
Numerous shoots form a compact shrub that supports the floral display clearly.
After flowering, the deciduous leaves may warm to yellow, orange and red.
Why you will love it: it combines vivid summer flowering and warm autumn colour in a dense, small-scale shrub.
Place in full sun in a statement pot, by an entrance or at the front of a border, with darker green foliage behind to intensify the purple. Allow roughly 50–60cm of clear width.
The violet clusters gain depth beside silver foliage and low flowers in gentle pink.
Full sun in a warm, sheltered position for a generous floral display.
Maintain even moisture during establishment and summer heat, while allowing complete drainage between waterings.
Deciduous; established plants tolerate about −15°C, but young container plants benefit from protection during severe frost.
Crape myrtle is not considered toxic to dogs or cats, but it is not intended for consumption.
Full sun in a warm, sheltered position for a generous floral display.
Maintain even moisture during establishment and summer heat, while allowing complete drainage between waterings.
Fertile, organic, deep and very well-drained soil or growing mix.
Apply a light balanced feed in early spring; excess nitrogen promotes leaves at the expense of flowers.
Deciduous; established plants tolerate about −15°C, but young container plants benefit from protection during severe frost.
Remove dead, weak or crossing wood in late winter and shape only lightly before new growth begins.
Crape myrtle is not considered toxic to dogs or cats, but it is not intended for consumption.
Sparse flowering often points to insufficient sun, a cool summer or excessive nitrogen feeding.
The young crape myrtle first invests in roots and a short structural framework.
Lateral branching thickens and creates more points for summer flower clusters.
The violet summer cloud is followed by warm colour before leaf fall.
At maturity, Lagerstroemia indica With Love® Eternal (‘Milavio’) retains a compact upright base beneath violet flowers, followed by warm autumn colour. It provides a vivid accent in a statement pot or front border without casting bulky shade.
The two studies connect early establishment with the mature violet and autumn display.
What to expect after planting: After root establishment, each warm season adds more flowering tips. The violet summer cloud becomes denser, then yields to the warm autumn finale.
The story of Lagerstroemia indica ‘Milavio’, now marketed as With Love® Eternal, began in 1998 in Piero Frangi’s breeding programme at Vertemate con Minoprio, Italy. Seeds produced by the open pollination of 33 unnamed, unpatented proprietary plants were pooled and sown. In 1999, Frangi singled out one unique violet-flowered seedling from the resulting population. Because the seed had been pooled and pollination was open, its exact parents remain unknown.
The selection combined a well-branched habit with early, extended flowering, violet flowers, good tolerance of powdery mildew and observed frost resistance. That same year, Frangi began propagating it by stem cuttings at Vertemate con Minoprio; successive generations retained its characteristics true to type.
‘Milavio’ was submitted for EU plant variety protection on 12 May 2014 and for a US plant patent on 19 November 2014. It was first sold in France on 15 March 2015 as With Love® Eternal and received a Silver Medal at Plantarium 2015; the jury praised its compact habit, healthy appearance and profuse flowering even in the Dutch climate.
US Plant Patent PP26,877, naming Frangi as inventor and Fondazione Minoprio as assignee, was granted on 28 June 2016. EU plant variety right 47219 followed on 3 July 2017.
The violet inflorescences are branched thyrses at the tips of current-season lateral shoots, so fresh growth builds the flowering framework.
Each flower usually carries six kidney-shaped petals on slender claws, with strongly undulate, toothed margins that create the crêpe texture.
Six specific answers covering position, water, soil, space and correct seasonal care.
Full sun in a warm, sheltered position for a generous floral display.
Maintain even moisture during establishment and summer heat, while allowing complete drainage between waterings.
Fertile, organic, deep and very well-drained soil or growing mix.
An established plant commonly reaches about 60–100cm high and 40–60cm across, with natural variation between sites.
Violet to purple, with modest natural shifts in intensity according to light and flower age.
Before leaf fall it may develop yellow, orange and red shades.