Hi! Of course our winters in southeast Texas generally aren't real winters, but my Confederate roses grow at least 8 to 12 feet a year; no way they'd live in the house. Little ones that I stick in the ground (and I'm literally talking sticks), I keep well watered for the first couple of months and mulch well. Cover if necessary in cold weather like I do some of my other tender new ones, but after that they're on their own.
Here, I try to cut them back to about five feet every January or February. They get even bigger then!
I love mine, but warning: they do make a mess if near a deck or walkway. Nothing that you can't stand 'cause they're so pretty, if only for a day at a time.
Patt

Stick it in the ground. It will die back when it gets cooler. Then mulch it if it looks as if you are going to hve some really cold weather. The root will sprout in the spring.

Also, after you plant it, if you want to, you can just cut off some of the stems and stick them in some moist dirt. They root like crazy.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm going to just put it in the ground (as soon as it quits raining here).

Allison

I have just experienced my first Confederate Rose bloom and I am so excited! What a plant! I got a bunch of sticks that looked like dead sticks from someone last January. I just put them all in a vase with about 6" water and they pushed out leaves all along the stem and roots at the bottom. I then stuck them in the ground about late March, or April and have been rewarded with the most spectacular blooms today with lots more buds! Sometimes the best things in life are free!! and easy!!

I stuck my "sticks" in the ground last year, and now they are five feet high and blooming. Big fat powderpuff blooms. The neighbor that gave me the sticks has one that looks like a big tree. Must be 10 feet high. I plan to cut mine back about January, and pass some "sticks" on to my friends. I hope you went ahead and planted yours in the ground. They are a beutiful plant when in bloom. WannaB

I have 5 confederate roses growing in my yard and wondered if anyone else had had problems with snails chewing through the buds and what did you do? My cr's don't look nearly as good as they should because something chewed right thru the stem to the bud and many of the buds fell off. Can anyone give me a clue? Between the white flies,snails, and ants this year just getting anything to bloom was amazing! Oh this is a new house on a new yard so I'm hoping I won't have this problem next year. I'm in the Houston area.
Thanks! Pam

Hi Pam,
I caught the villians chewing holes in buds in my garden---holes in rosebuds, holes in daylilies, holes in my confederate rose was the last straw! It turned out to be several "large green grasshopper-like beasties". A friend suggested that they probably are leaf hoppers and can be controlled with Neem Oil spray. I sprayed all plants last week and haven't seen any more damage. Of course I am guilty of smashing the dickens out of the ones I caught in the chewing act.

Happy gardening!
Shari

A friend gave me a C.R. in a pot this Spring. It sat neglected in its pot all summer. Yesterday I saw the first bloom. It was as big as my hand and almost white. I snipped it, put it in a vase, and by evening it had turned completely pink. Amazing.

The Confederate Rose is too cool. I love the way it changes from white, to pink, to red. I saw them everywhere in full bloom on my trip back from Charleston this weekend. They grow wonderfully in this area too.

This is the best time of year to plant trees, shrubs, perennials, so go ahead and get it in the ground. I think it would be way more difficult to try to overwinter it inside than to go ahead and plant it.

Jeanni

There are two different confederate roses. One is white and fades to pink and the other blooms pink. I have a white one that is at least 10 feet high. Can share cuttings. I am located in SE Texas.

I planted the seeds of this last spring - having had them for 2 or 3 years. They germinated quite well, and I have one now that is about 5 ft. tall and has buds on it. I am hoping that it is the pink fluffy type that look like a rose, because I understand that there are varieties which have single blooms. I have others that are doing quite well but not as well as this one, partly due to the fact that some of them are in pots.

The species of Hibiscus mutabilis has the fluffy-type flowers that change colors, with the cultivars usually being single and not changing colors.

Jeanni