An interesting rose to discuss as in how "far" the odd colors have come! Oh, wow, the plant is extremely healthy, the foliage is gorgeous, in my experience this one slides in with White Licorice and Julia Child......is it a Floribunda? Is it a smaller SHRUB??? It blooms a lot, it is hardy, this IS the "future" and this one did in my opinion deserve the AARS................but color? With this we are back 50 ish years, back to SMOKY by Combe, 1968.............the bloom color is basically just like Smoky, oxblood red maybe leaning orange that takes on a purple and/or ashey tone as the sun hits it and fades to ash-putty..............something you will love or hate.............this is what I would have thought the cross Europeana x Smoky would look like, except rose genetics are never that simple! If the color is intriguing to you and you are looking for a shrubby sort of plant, absolutely I recommend this one.

I saw a bed of Hot Cocoa in the rose park, zone 5a. It's loaded with blooms on a compact bush (less than 3' here). It's always blooming hot or cold weather, but the cold weather's color is magnificent. The leaves are pretty and healthy. I'll give the bush a ten for overall beauty and compactness.