Rosa 'Hot Chocolate'

That is gorgeous

It looks like it has been made from icing sugar, perfect

This is such a beauty!

Beautiful colour. Is it a shrub rose?

Beautiful photo, with all the buds! :)

Yes Dwyllis, it is a lovely shrub rose. The tallest stem on mine is about 5' tall.

Thanks everyone, Karen, the buds are beautiful aren't they?

That is wonderful, into my wish list Karen!

I have been out and taken a picture of the last one on my rose this morning, it is such a beautiful rose. Lovely shot Karen.

It's a real heart stealer isn't it!

Certainly is!!

Stole my heart!!

Gorgeous and look at all those buds. How long has it been flowering Karen? Oh no, I want this one now too.

Well Dawn, this one is new this year. I saw it at the Chelsea Flower Show and fell instantly in love. I had to have it, so I ordered a potted specimen and I think it arrived in June. It had buds on it then and it's been flowering almost continually ever since. The perfume is strong and fruity and the foliage is a lovely colour and very healthy.

Sounds perfect Karen. I remember you seeing it at Chelsea now. May have to place an order :)

You won't regret it!

Peter Beale roses have a free P&P offer on. ;-)

I'm hoping during the Winter months that you'll be doing an in-depth blog on different variety rose care :). I'll certainly need it for one.

lol! I don't think so...but you never know! If I did, it might help me to remember how to do it properly myself instead of a chop here and a snip there! What I can tell you is shrub roses don't need a lot of pruning, just deadheading and a tidy up in late winter, removing dead and weak shoots. You don't have to cut them hard back like Hybrid T's as most of them flower on old wood. I just learned that this summer...oops!

awesome - great rose !!!

Hi Karen, your knowledge should be shared :). I bought 3 Flower Carpet from b&q a few weeks ago and cut back the faded flowering stems as you advised and hey presto! Covered in buds and a few flowers.

Great news! I think dead-heading is probably the task that brings most reward in the garden!

Do you Karen? I dont tend to get around to doing it to all plants, sounds like I should. :)

As much as you can bear to Dawn...I mean...it's a BIG garden you've got there, and the last thing you want to do is make it a burden! :)

True Karen, I will try though. I dead headed those 3 new Flower Carpet roses I bought a few weeks ago, as you described to me and they are covered in buds and a few flowers :-)

:))

Dawn I give mine a good trim with the electric hedge trimmer at the end of winter, they soon spring back to life and keep a nice shape. Karen's going OMG Nooooooo!

Nope, not at all. I saw a programme on the telly where they did some research and found that it made very little difference to a rose how you pruned it. The guy who did it took his shears to his and they came back just as well as the ones he did the 'proper' pruning job on! I still do the searching for the outward facing bud and cutting carefully on a diagonal above the bud......takes for ever...maybe one day I'll get the shears out!

I only do that one with the electric cutter because it is huge now and must have about 500 + maybe 1000 dead heads on it in March. In the summer I prune whole branches off that have flowered and as you have told Dawn that keeps it flowering until November. Will be a lot easier in a flat garden! Can't wait for that one x

Well, that's true. I hadn't thought of that!

Thanks for the info on pruning girls.

Still waiting for mine it was ordered from J Parker.

Waiting is not my favourite thing either Kath! ;))