Rosa x floribunda Hot Cocoa Wekpaltlez

The 'Hot Cocoa' Rose 'Wekpaltlez' probably owes its varietal name to the warm colour of its flowers, which range from red to brown with delicious chocolate highlights. This unique colour stands out in the garden and allows for surprising combinations with blue flowers, for example. This small bush produces bouquets of medium-sized double roses, slightly fragrant. It blooms all summer and is adorned with dark green foliage, highly resistant to diseases. Undoubtedly an original rose, to be highlighted in the garden.

The 'Hot Cocoa' Clustered Flower Rose was registered in the U.S.A in 2002 by Tom Carruth. The plant forms a upright bush, with thorny stems, measuring 70 cm (28in) in height and 50 cm (20in) in width, adorned with very healthy, glossy, dark green foliage. This deciduous foliage falls in autumn and regrows in spring. The abundant flowering occurs from June to October. Its 7 cm (3in) wide corollas are double, slightly turbinate, grouped in bouquets of 5 to 7 flowers. The tightly closed buds open into round, slightly flattened cups. The petals evolve from brick red to rust and chocolate brown, with the colours shifting over time to a more red and lighter shade. Their fruity fragrance is light.

Floribunda roses are perfect for creating beautiful small hedges, planted mixed along the edge of a terrace or in small shrub beds. Combine them with abelias, nandinas, or caryopteris, for example. They are good companions for paniculate phlox and tall gypsophila. The medium size and resistance of the 'Hot Cocoa' rose make it an interesting variety for all gardens, even small ones, and for growing in large pots. Its uses are varied, according to the desires of each gardener: in a rose bed alongside white ('Marie Pavie', 'Swanny'), pink, salmon, or cream varieties. It will also blend well with light and easy-to-grow plants such as perennial geraniums, catmints, and asters. And its roses are beautiful in bouquets.