The most unusually colored rose to come out in the last decade, ‘Hot Cocoa’ is a plant every gardener must grow.

This hardy floribunda rose has it all. The flowers grow in fragrant clusters, and each bloom is large, fully double and well formed. The deep rust-colored buds open to reveal a chocolatey haze of velvet smoke tones. Lighter in hot weather, and darker in cool, ‘Hot Cocoa’s’ flowers are always changing and always a mysterious blend of smoky colors that defy description. And unlike some novel roses of the past, ‘Hot Cocoa’s’ range of colors is universally appealing. In other words, you’ll love it.

Not only is the smoky chocolate orange color amazing, ‘Hot Cocoa’ is a plant so exceptional that you’d want to grow it even if it didn’t have flowers. The foliage is deep green and so glossy it looks as if someone shined each leaf individually.

Great flowers, super foliage — that’s enough, right? Wrong. The ‘Hot Cocoa’ plant is so disease resistant that it was unaffected by last season’s insidious nationwide blackspot epidemic.

Naturally disease resistant, ‘Hot Cocoa’ can remain blackspot free without spraying, from early spring right through early fall. This, of course, makes ‘Hot Cocoa’ exceptionally easy to grow. Just a little water and fertilizer keeps this plant vigorous and free blooming all season long.

It’s excellent as a cut flower, but ‘Hot Cocoa’ really shines in the garden where its glossy foliage draws the eye to the ever-present multitude of blooms. It’s a spectacular bedding plant or an outstanding addition to the perennial border. It is also a wonderful container plant.

‘Hot Cocoa’ is a 2003 All-America Rose Selection from Weeks Roses. The variety was grown for two seasons in gardens across the country and has been judged to be exceptional in every climate.

Gardeners can buy ‘Hot Cocoa’ at nurseries and garden centers nationwide, or wherever Weeks Roses are sold.

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THE NEW chocolate-colored ‘Hot Cocoa’ roses will engage visitors to your garden.