Koko Loko: The Rose Everyone Wants to Grow…

What is the enduring obsession with the latte-coloured Koko Loko rose?

Its beguiling colour palette, transforming from pinky beige through to dusky lavender grey, makes it extremely popular amongst rose enthusiasts in the garden and floristry studio. Whenever I post an image of it I get a flurry of questions about what it is and how to grow it, and “whether it will be in flower for a wedding in <insert date>?”! Rose Koko Loko is extremely beautiful!

(Indeed this blog is one of my most viewed! First written in 2023, I have edited it November 2025 to include more information.)

What is the Koko Loko Rose?

Koko Loko is a floribunda rose that starts to flower early in June, repeat flowering through the season into the autumn. ‘Koko’ Loko’ is loved for its unique colour transformation, starting coffee coloured, dusky beige, fading into a creamy lavender. It looks so graceful alongside whites and neutrals, stunning with dusky pastels and sensational in autumnal colour schemes.

Koko Loko was bred by Christian Bedard in the United States in 2008. It was propagated by crossing the American bred floribunda ‘Blueberry Hill’ with British-bred hybrid tea rose ‘Pot o’Gold’. It was introduced to the market in America by Weeks Roses in 2012 and then patented in Australia as ‘Soul Sister’ in 2015. Weeks Roses still sell it describing it as looking “good enough to eat… or maybe in this case drink”.

Can You Grow Koko Loko Roses in the UK?

The plant Rose Koko Loko is available commercially from British retailers. Although it can tolerate outdoor conditions (it is recommended to be grown in zones 6 – 10) it thrives in places with warm, dry summers and mild, dry winters, so it isn’t brilliantly suited to Cumbria! (Or indeed the UK!)

Rose Koko loko is also a bit of a diva!! I’m not sure I would recommend it as a garden rose. The ones I grew outside here in Cumbria died – they really didn’t like the wet cold.

If you do have a rich, well drained spot in a mild area of the UK it might well cope, but I would give it a thick mulch in the autumn to protect the roots and cross your fingers.

I grow Koko Loko in our rose polytunnel where it copes well with the weather. It loves our clay and the warm dry full sun situation the tunnel gives it. Is very prone to mildew and disease so avoid overhead watering and keep well ventilated. Prune so that it has a wide open growing shape, to discourage disease.

Growing Koko Loko Roses as a Flower Farmer or Florist

If you are a flower farmer supplying weddings or event florists, with polytunnel space or a kind growing climate, it is well worth considering Koko Loko as part of your rose collection. Koko Loko grows long stems – often over 60cm – when in the polytunnel. Stems have a few large thorns that can be easily removed for floristry. Stems can have a multi-flower head, but often single flowers. Prune heavily through the year (by cutting) to throw up more long stems.

For floristry Koko Loko is a good cut rose variety. In addition to its long, sparsely thorned stems, the roses will hold their shape without drooping or dropping petals, with a great vase life 5+ days when cut at the optimum bud stage. It is not our most productive rose, but a plant will produce between 12 and 25 long stems of premium roses a year.

Koko Loko for Weddings and Occasions

And if you are a bride Koko Loko is a sensational rose that I love to use in pale pastel palettes, as well as rich autumnal colour schemes.

We have around 85 roses in total in our rose tunnel. This allows us to cut for events throughout the year, but it also means that we don’t have enough space for a huge number of any one variety. Consequently Koko Loko is one of our most special roses, which we use in premium products like our personal wedding flowers (such as bouquets and buttonholes), farewell flower tributes and our high value gift bouquets. Only available from small growers like us, Koko Loko is a truly special artisan rose for stunning sustainable wedding.