I've used to strike a lot of crepe myrtles & had good luck with both spring & fall slips. Rooted under a simple mister ("porch cooler" from Lowe's) in full sun. I treated them like rose cuttings--slightly wounding through the bark on the bottom 1" or so, used a coarse media of blasting sand #3 & coir. Perhaps the biggest difference is I always used a strong commercial hormone--Rhizopon #3--.8% IBA. It makes a big improvement for me when I try to root woody plants like roses & crepe myrtles. Hope this is useful.

Actually, it's pretty common to see pink(ish) blooms form on certain normally white blooming crApe myrtles. Multiple factors may be present, but weather (and weather timing) is one commonly mentioned. 'Whit VI' (Burgundy Cotton) is one example of a cultivar well known for this phenomenon. Here is a link that might be useful: Carl Whitcomb's Crapes (see description for Burgundy Cotton)

I agree with georgez5il, may we call you George, that cherry is best propagated by grafting but....it is the time of the year for an interesting experiment. When I had a greenhouse and was doing propagation experiments I found easily propagated woody cuttings like Poplar species were best rooted, in my opinion, at mid-winter in the dark. Should I have wanted to try cherry I would have taken cuttings as George suggested now to mid-December and put them in clear rooting containers like plastic cups so I could easily check for roots and covered them with Glad Press and Seal and put them in the dark and checked for roots after several weeks or a few months.

They are on their own roots. You can take softwood cuttings at any time and they should root quite readily.