I was looking for a replacement Hot Cocoa and I haven't found it. Do y'all remember how hot this rose used to be? I'm tempted to get Cinco de Mayo instead but will look a little longer for HC. On my last visit to Chamblees the staff couldn't stop talking about Cinco.

Has anybody else had a similar experience? And what does it mean, that the rose is not a strong grower or does it mean we are fickle? Take Ebb Tide for example. It was "hot" at the same time as Hot Cocoa and it continues to be hot.

usually means we're fickle, or it wasn't a good seller. The color is kind of unusual and it's not usually something you'll find at Walmart. I do love Cinco de Mayo, but it didn't last worth a hoot with my cold weather. I'll get it again, though. I personally don't like Hot Cocoa, but I know my nurseries are carrying it. Do you want me to pick one up for you?

I love it, it's also a great healthy plant with deep green leaves & good repeat and that gives it extra brownie points in my book. It is more of an unusual smoky russet color as you know so placement in relationship to other blooming plants needs to be considered more so than say a pink rose. Now Cinco is real nice too, a brighter russet, it has more semi double blooms and I favor the the fuller bloom look. You can't beat it for color and again, another super healthy looking plant even when not in bloom.

Hi, Nery. Happy birthday yesterday, Lady.

A few years ago, you couldn't turn around without seeing Livin' Easy for sale. Last year the gophers got mine and I had to look high and low for it. No local nurseries were carrying it bare-root, not even Regan's or Garden Valley Ranch, which have outrageously huge varieties of roses for sale. I finally found it at Pickering, but why does this happen?

I can understand if a rose is a dud. I bought Lady Bird last year and couldn't figure out why it was so unfamiliar to me. When it bloomed, I almost screamed. It was that gorgeous! The rose bush itself, though, is a hideously scraggly thing and I don't think it's going to last another year. The same thing applies to Chris Evert. Gorgeous bloom, weak plant. Livin' Easy, though, didn't have those problems. It always grew well. Who decided to stop selling it, and why?

Here, the nurseries will carry "only what will grow in Colorado." HA! Technically, NO rose grows well in Colorado! Not without babying the damned things. And everyone here loves their frickin' grass too much to bother trying to learn how to grow roses well. I've seen people grade out & redo their stupid sod every year for 5 years straight.. like the grass was an annual! Blah! The Big Boxes sell what they think will sell, which is whatever sells at their headquarters. Last year, after the first influx of roses, all they carried was the red red roses.. nothing else. I just looked up that Lady Bird and never even heard of it, let alone seen it for sale, which I would snap one up in a heartbeat. I'm SOOOOO tired of the Knock Out roses.. that's all everyone carried last year to the end and, if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all! But, strange, different, not easy .. those won't sell because it might take an extra 5-10 minutes a week to take care of and, as everyone knows, roses are TOO HARD TO GROW! Only in professional gardens can roses grow.

:p~~~~

/end rant

oh, and happy belated B-day!!

Hey y'all. I just noticed I posted in the welcome forum. It will be a little while til I get the gist of it all. Skiekitty, you guys have had the harshest weather this year.

I don't really want to give up on Hot Cocoa b/c I don't have that rust tone in my PMO garden. But not high priority.

You know I am a fan of KOs, but even I am so darned sick of seeing them everywhere! We'll I guess I shouldn't complain about seeing beauty everywhere but.....i'm crabby this morning.

Subconsciously, you must have wanted to be welcomed, Nery, so here's a most hearty welcome to our cubit.

I have a rose that is terribly "out of style". An old Vogue floribunda that was moved from my mother's house years ago ahead of the bulldozers in the heat of NC August. The bushes did survive and got moved again out here to the woods 10 years ago. I think that is amazing for roses that were old, eaten up every year with blackspot, and dizzy with being moved. I finally rooted some cuttings and the two results look fairly good. The 3 olds girls look terrible, but keep going. I love the Vogue color (pink coral) and the fragrance is heavenly - I don't any others compare to it. But I bet I am alone in my admiration for this old rose - I never see it sold anywhere although I think it is available from a couple of on line places. It is definitely "out of fashion".

I have two Vogues growing in my garden. It is a beautiful rose. I think I saw it on the Vintage Garden list, so it's not impossible to find, unless you want a grafted one.

Vossner,

Here is a list of nurseries, many mail order, that carry Hot Cocoa:

http://www.helpmefind.com/gard...

You may get the plant as a rooted cutting instead of a grafted rose, but sometimes I find those better, as they spread by there roots. Of the nurseries listed, I've always been very pleased with High Country Gardens, and it appears they have it in stock.

Hope this helps!
Alan

It seems that coral/orange is the hot thing in roses right now. Fine with me, I like that color. I am tired of the red knockouts also. That is all the stores seem to have this year. They are fine, I would just like to see more variety. I grow Carefree Celebration, a coral rose from Radler, the knock out breeder. It blooms a lot like the knockouts, but is a more unusual color.

Since I came home to the UK I've searched everywhere for Hot Cocoa as I had it in my Maine garden and adored it but it didn't survive their brutal winter.

So at the garden centre the other week I saw 'Hot Chocolate'. Of course! That's what it's called over here! So now it's in a large pot in my garden and I'm very happy :)

I'm so happy for you too, and what a beautiful photo!

Sue, I'm surprised that it didn't survive in Maine. Here, it has become one of my favorite 'modern' roses. It is several years old now and still gorgeous. Sometimes, when the temps start to go down, the roses are almost chocolate brown. I'm glad you were able to find one.

Zuzu, may I start a thread somewhere (your choice of forum) on old garden roses?

Sue, that's the best photo I've seen of Hot Cocoa/Chocolate!! I hope you add it to the database when you get a chance.
Kathleen, just start one under any appropriate forum, Parade, Buying, Growing, whatever fits for you.

ok, thanks, I'll get to it later.

Looking forward to it.

Sounds great, Kathleen. "Choosing roses" might be a good forum for that kind of thread.