Tuscarora is a crape myrtle in a color you don't see everywhere: big trusses of crinkled coral-pink flowers that keep coming through the heat of summer. It grows into a small multi-trunked tree around 15 feet, with smooth, mottled cinnamon-brown bark that shows off in winter and foliage that turns orange-red in fall.

Plant it in full sun; the more sun, the more bloom. It takes Birmingham heat, humidity, and clay in stride once established. Skip the hard topping in winter — a light thinning keeps its natural vase shape and the bark on display.