I was given 6 cuttings of the confererate rose too.
and was told to either put them in water to root or put the cuttings in the ground and they would root by spring.
I'm at a lost ,to which way to do this. this plant is really hard to come by here.

I suggest you put both brugs and CR in a pot of sand. Keep it moist, not wet. If you have a fluorescent light, put them under the light. By Jan. 1, 2006 you will have little leaves and by spring they will have roots and be ready to plant outside. That is almost instant gratification, isn't it.

I root confederate rose all the time and it's easy. I just root in water and leave in my library in indirect light. In a few weeks there are roots and usually new leaves. Then I pot up in potting soil - to make the transition easier, I pot it in rather wet potting soil and let it slowly dry out. Seems to be less stressful (an idea from another GWer). I haven't tried wet sand, but I'm sure that would work too.

Jrgardener - do you root ALL of the pieces of confed rose, or just the "younger growth" - i.e., upper part of trucks, "stems" with blooms, etc.? I am finally gonna try, AGAIN, to root them - NEVER had any success in the past....with the CRs anyway

For me, the C R is one of those things that are soooooo simple to root. I just take a limb, cut it into about foot long sections and put them in a vase of water. Sit the vase in a place where it will get light, room temp, and forget it. In a couple of months your sticks will be well rooted, and leafed out. After last frost time, they can be planted in the garden. Some even bloom the first year. However, I have seen some of my neighbors try this same method, and it doesn't work for them. good luck

Do you have to prune back the Confederate Rose when the leaves fall off in fall and is this the time to try to root it? How tall should one let it grow before pruning?