Is it possible to root a feather celosia?
 

I had this little feather celosia seedling that I rescued (someone had purchased it and left it on a park bench at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden). I'd gotten it a year ago, and after a rocky start it began to thrive and grow. But I think these are meant to be potted in the ground, as it seemed to develop some struggles down the road.

This is what one looks like -- mine is yellow:
https://www.kawvalleygreenhouses.com...f6f3f683cc.jpg

Anyway, to make a long story short, after 2 weeks of no water, the plant started to give up. The "feathers" wilted and wouldn't revive. I took a cutting from the plant and put it in a glass of water to keep at the windowsill. The mother plant died. But the seedling is now still alive after a month. It's not rooting, though. I've seen a number of plants do this automatically when cut, but it seems the feather celosia is not capable. Is there some way to incite it to root? Or is this essentially a "death row" scenario?

Did you take the cutting in such a way that the cutting has nodes? Plants generally root from the nodes of the stem. The question begs to be asked why two weeks with no water...?

The shoot I cut was too short for having a node... so I guess I kind of blew it. About the plant going 2 weeks without water, it was a mistake. I'd left the plant with a relative who has a lot of plants and she became forgetful... and overlooked the plant. Sadly! I nurtured the poor thing from certain death... only for it to end up dying in the end. :(

No node= no roots. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Enjoy it while it lives, maybe there''ll be a miracle yet.

Just saw this. These are obligate annuals. They grow for a season, produce flowers, then seed, then die.

No, they won't root. They are exceptionally easy from seed. Under some circumstances you might be able to keep an inflorescence alive in water long enough for seeds to mature, which you could plant the following year.

Celosia require full sun all summer. This would be a very difficult plant to grow well indoors, even in a sunny window.