Q: My wife has several small crape myrtles growing from seed in her garden. They came from a large white crape myrtle nearby. If I transplant them will they grow into a normal bush/tree or should we just cut them down?

A: I’m in the same situation. I have seven seedlings that I plan to transplant later this year. Mine came from a nearby ‘Natchez’ crape myrtle. I’m curious if the seedlings will grow similar to their parent since ‘Natchez’ resulted from a cross between Lagerstroemia indica and Lagerstroemia fauriei. Only time will tell!

The perfect time to transplant is on a cool November afternoon, a few days after a good rainfall. You might need to prune away several branches to make plants easy to handle. Use a spading fork to identify and gently lift as many roots as possible. Don’t worry about preserving a soil-filled rootball.

Plant the seedlings in a sunny bed to which you’ve added two cubic feet of soil conditioner per ten square feet. The crape myrtles will start blooming once they are fully established a few years from now.