Carolina Gardening: Confederate Rose, should I have cut it down this winter?, 0 by thea611

thea611 wrote:
I'm confused about what I need to do with my Confederate Rose. I planted it last spring and it grew fast and tall, with a good sturdy trunk about 5 inches around at the base. I thought I'd read that it would die back to the ground in places that got too cold. I wasn't sure what it would do in my zone.
Well, it never died back, but nothing is appearing on it's branches now, and there's new growth starting at the bottom, next to the trunk. Should I just cut the old bush down? Seems a shame, it's so sturdy. Should I cut it down every winter?