Gorgeous roses and pictures, Kathy! I had to laugh at your title. It does seem to be a rose you either love or hate. I love the blooms on mine and I agree they are not brassy at all. What I hate is the gawky, awkward way the plant grows. I've tried and tried to shape it with pruning but it refuses to cooperate!

Love your photos. It is a beautiful bloom. It seems to be a rose of many faces. I have seen it grow here, with a darker velvety bloom. May be it grows like that in colder climes?

Mine are all shades. From orange red to dark velvety. Here is my favorite shade.

When I first saw this rose in a catalog I wasn't interested, I'm not usually one for russets or 'odd' colored roses, but after seeing how good it looks in Boxo's bouquets I've put it on my list. I think Hot Cocoa really sets off the colors of the roses around it in a special way. Beautiful pictures!

I agree, it's a chameleon, I came home from vacation to this cluster...........Unfortunately, the neighbor's ugly pile of kindling didn't disappear in 10 days while I was gone as promised.

Pelicanhead and Boxofrox, thanks for your photos. Very different colors, really. I remember once having a flush turn quite purplish.

I've always thought that my HC almost ends up not looking like a natural color if that makes sense. I have buds in many shades but the opened color is almost synthetic.

I feel the same about my Dream Come True when the flowers 'fade' to pink, the color is almost fluorescent and my eyes don't want to believe that it's a real flower.