RIR score: unknown out of 10.
Parentage:
Hybridized by Carruth
Introduced in 2003
What our gardeners say:
Hot Cocoa is a new, eye-catching, show-stopping rose. You have to see the unusual blooms - smoky-chocolate-rust-orange-cinnamon with a purplish glow - of this rose to believe the color. The blooms, of 25-30 ruffled petals, come in clusters and vary in hues depending on sunlight and age - less sun=softer colors while more sun=darker colors. Fragrance is moderate old rose.
Its foliage starts out a reddish-green and matures to a shiny, dark green. Growth habit is rounded, bushy, and vigorous to a height of 4'-5'.
Hot Cocoa is proving to be very heat tolerant and blackspot resistant. A strong grower, this beauty is putting out new roots as well as canes from most every node below ground level (a bit of a suprise when I uncovered mine this spring). Don't know about using this floribunda in a hedge, but as a specimen this plant is unsurpassed in my garden - everyone stops to take notice.
AARS winner