Soccer Dad

Name that shrub

We have this bush in our front lawn that I love. And my wife hates. For a few weeks in the summer it has the most beautiful magenta flowers. The problem is that it wasn't maintained before we bought the house and it has become a host for all sorts of opportunistic weeds.
I remember seeing somewhere that this bush is a member of the myrtle family, but I don't know anything else about it.

Tonight I noticed that the flowers that I love so much had started to bloom.

Last year because it had become too wild, my neighbor offered to cut it down. (He was really anxious to give his new chainsaw a workout.) My wife agreed and I was very upset. However, by cutting it down he really got rid of most of the branches that had been strangled by the weeds and we were left with a smaller healthier plant. Still I have to be vigilant with the weed killers, else it will get consumed by weeds again.