too late for what..

you cant get the seed until it opens.. dont you think??

while you are at the link.. change the search to PROPAGATION OF CRAPE MYRTLE SEED ... and you should be on your way ...

and while you are there.. you might want to find out if they can be rooted from cuttings ..... should you wish to propagate specific flowers. rather than relying on seed ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Gardenapprentice,

I second Ken's advice about looking into growing crapes from cuttings. Crape myrtles are easy to propagate from cuttings, and cuttings will provide superior specimens that are genetically identical to the parent plant.

If you are wanting to grow things from seed, that's cool, but I'd choose something else for that, personally (unless, of course, you want to try to develop a new crape myrtle cultivar).

The seed pods need to ripen on the plant, and then they will crack open naturally and spill their seeds. You'll need to be observant to catch the pods before those little seeds disperse all over the place. The pods ripen in the fall.

I forget how many seeds each pod contains, but it is many. They germinate readily and the seedlings grow pretty rapidly. Don't expect seedlings to be duplicates of the parent plant.