Hi Lynn: Burlington roses in Southern CA has Annie L. McDowell and many Old Garden Roses like Excellenz von Schubert ... which I like just as much as Annie. She has 380+ big roses for $11 per band, and 160+ mini-roses for $7.50 per band. The shipping to my Chicagoland was cheap: $20 for 14 roses last year, but the postage went up this year. She has a big selection of Old Garden Roses that smell great, like Comte de Chambord. She has 2 Austins: Benjamin Britten and Ab. Darby. She has many lavender (Veichenblau) and thornless roses (Pink gruss, Gruss, Marie Pavie & Daly). Burling is honest and gives prompt service. She will email you the list of roses she has if you request at: BurlingtonRoses@aol.com It's best to order in advance, the popular ones are sold out fast. I really miss thornless mini-rose Norwich Sweetheart (smells wonderful !!), Sweet Arlene (thornless), Comte de Chambord, Rose du Roi, La Reine, and Louis Odier were all sold out by Christmas. There's already a long waiting list for Annie from last year, so the sooner you order, the better your chance. If you ask her the types you want, she will recommend for you. I asked her for the most-blooming polyantha in her nursery, she gave me the list. Any questions you ask, she will answer promptly ... Burling is a very knowledgeable rosarian. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Fri, Jun 28, 13 at 22:33

Hi Ladybug! Preferences in roses is very subjective as I'm sure you know, but since you asked I'll comment. 1)I have both Mrs. Dudley Cross and Mon. Tillier. The monsieur is bullet proof as far as health is concerned, but the roses, while a pretty color, are very small, like quarter size in hot weather. Mrs. Dudley Cross is healthy also and produces beautiful huge roses most of the year. I love that it is thornless and the roses change from light yellow to pinkish as they age. 2)As for healthy lavender roses someone on the rose forum commented that 'good health' and 'lavender rose' should not be used in the same sentence. Most of them are very fragrant, but are subject to black spot. Mrs. B. R. Cant is VERY healthy and very fragrant; also pumps out roses-roses-roses all season. Just be aware that it gets huge, like 9 ft x 9 ft at maturity and it resents heavy pruning to try and keep it small. However, with judicious pruning you might keep it at about 7 x 7. Besides every cane is covered with buds and you just can not bear to cut them off. So give it room and you will love it. It makes a great cut rose also. It is also very thorny, but with all that it offers who cares :-) Francis Dubreuil's blooms are extremely fragrant, but it's a small rather weak grower for most people. I've heard that it does better if you can find a grafted one. Plus the flowers burn up in the heat like a lot of red roses. Chrysler Imperial is a very fragrant red rose that you might consider, and is also healthy. I don't grow Carefree Beauty, but it's a very highly regarded rose for big blooms on a healthy bush. Personally I like roses with larger flowers than Martha Gonzales produces, but a lot of folks really like it. 3)Sombrueil is a beautiful white climbing rose, very fragrant to my nose and I love how the petals are so perfectly arranged. You can search the names of thousands of roses on HelpMeFind and see pictures and read comments. And of course you can see hundreds of roses right here in San Antonio at Antique Rose Emporium. They have just finished pruning the roses which are planted in the ground and those should all be blooming well in about 6 or so weeks. Of course, the roses in pots will be blooming nicely in two or three weeks since we're having cooler weather. Happy rose growing! They are my favorite flower. Oh and Mutablis is a must have IMHO :-) Here is a link that might be useful: HelpMeFind ...

I haven't had Teas for that long but they are definitely amongst my best roses. In my hot, humid climate (10b), my favourites so far are: 1. Rosette Delizy - I think this one is my best rose overall. I love the growth and sheer number of blooms. I don't have any problems with balling and they only burn a little on very hot days, which doesn't really matter to me as there are new blooms opening all the time. No disease and fast growing. The blooms don't nod and last ages in a vase for me. 2. General Gallieni - I don't think many people love this rose but it's imperfection is the key to its beauty for me. You never know what you will get! I love the look of the blooms on hot days, where they look like they have been painted with watercolours. Doesn't ball or burn at all for me. Took this pic not long after it arrived as a tiny spindly bare root a few months ago, now it's 5ft high and rising! 3. G Nabonnand - some days it's my favourite but the blooms aren't as tough as the others so it suffers a little in the heat. Beautiful leafy shrub though and always in bloom, like everyone says. I think it has nice perfume too. 4. Duchess de Brabant - I didn't like this one much to start with but it's growing on me! Love the perfume and the number of blooms. Gets a bit of black spot here but nothing serious. 5. Climbing Devoniensis - wow, what a climber! It's my most vigorous climber by far. Actually I'm a little scared of it. My favourite perfume from all the Teas. Also gets a little black spot here. 6. Anna Olivier - mine is still young but it's graceful and has soft full blooms. No disease, not as fast growing as others but it's slowly making a nice full shrub. 7. Baronne Henriette de Snoy - not 100% sure about the growth and how the bush will shape up, it's a bit branching and angular and sparsely foliated at the moment. I'm hoping it will improve. Love the full pretty blooms though. 8. Reve d'Or - I don't even own it yet but I love it! It's on order! I've admired the mature bushes at the rose garden for ages, I can't wait to find a spot for it. 9. Lady Mary Fitzwilliam - sneaking this early HT in as it grows like all my other Teas - vigorous, leafy and healthy. I guess I can't be sure the rose I have is Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, given the contention, but I think it could be. Never balls, never burns. 10. Mrs B R Cant - wasn't too impressed with this one until I fell in love with the reverse of the blooms! So pretty (and huge!) She is sprawling at the moment and may get too big for her spot. Not as floriferous as others for me but very good blooms for picking. 11. Souv de Pierre Notting - here this rose loves the heat. The hotter, the better. I don't have a problem with the brown ruff of outer petals unless it rains. Last very well in the vase and an interesting shape. Love the tinge of pink to the golden blooms. Healthy but a little less vigorous than others I have. 12. Marie van Houtte - I adore this rose but it's a monster! Beautiful blooms that I prefer to most other pink/yellow combinations. Nice tea perfume too but it's getting too big for its spot sadly. Should be higher up my list, I just forgot about it. Ones that haven't impressed are Monsieur Tillier (blooms fry instantly and are tiny, so disappointed with this one), Francis Dubreuil (likewise), the imposter Noella Nabonnand (floppy wet rag blooms here that don't last) and White Maman Cochet (balling a bit, slow growing for me, not many blooms so far). I've ordered loads for next year so I'm sure my list will change! I'll be adding Mrs Dudley Cross, Tipsy Imperial Concubine, La Vesuve, Comtesse Riza du Parc (whatever it really is - Dr Grill? Mme Charles?), Souv de Therese Lovet, Souv d'un Ami, Mme Jules Gravereaux, Triomphe du Luxembourg, Etoile de Lyon, Archduke Charles, Duchess d'Auerstadt, Marachal Niel, Octavius Weld and Lady Roberts. Now I just have to make more room! A Tea I'd love to add one day is David's Dilemma.

When I first started growing teas, I posted a summary of my experience on a similar thread to this one. That thread has been resurrected multiple times--and I've been a little embarrassed each time I see it, because I realize now that I still had so much to learn at that time. I'm grateful that the forum members here are so forgiving and supportive, no matter my experience level. So at the risk of embarrassing my future self again, here is my experience with teas and tea-noisettes to date: Blumenschmidt: This grew very well for me, and for a while I really enjoyed it--because it was always in bloom and the flowers varied between well-formed classic tea shapes and picturesquely quartered blooms. But eventually, it started to take on the characteristics of MFK, with flowers that always balled and mildewed in cool, damp weather. I removed it several years ago. Bon Silene: This is my most vigorous non-climbing tea, and it is always in bloom. It does suffer from mildew, which can be troubling because it is so huge. But I'm hoping with age that it will get more healthy. Right now, it's about eight feet wide and twelve feet tall, and still spreading. The flowers aren't always perfect, and sometimes loose and sloppy, but other times they can surprise me with their beauty. Crepuscule: This was my first tea-noisette, and I was probably too impatient with it. When the flowers first opened, they were a eye-catching apricot yellow, but they tended to turn to a muddy, ill-formed yellow brown for me. Because I had other roses I wanted to try, I took it out, but now I regret it. Madame Gregoire Staechelin took its place. Dr. Rouges: This is still very young for me, but I'm liking it so far. The flowers start out dark red, and then open to a coppery-pink quilled full bloom. G. Nabonnand: This is turning into one of my favorite teas. It's been very healthy for me, and the flowers, while they can be loose (as Capt. Thomas would say) are variable in the best way, ranging from huge, perfect blooms to casual, soft, collapsing petals. The color shifts from soft white to soft pink in my climate, depending on the season. General Schablikine: This remains my favorite of the teas, because it has such a spectacularly generous bloom in the middle of winter, with flowers that are the best type of copper red, fading to pink at the center. The bush has been very healthy, and it has not gotten out-of-control huge. Lady Waterlow: This is sometimes classed as a climbing hybrid tea, sometimes as a tea-noisette. After two rough starts, it's now doing great for me, and I am looking forward to next year's bloom as the bush continues to establish itself. After three years of growth, it's about 10' x 12' and still growing up and out. Madame Berkeley: This rose took a lot of abuse from me. I left it in a bad spot as a band for a year, and it always looked near to death but it did not die. I have it in a much better location now, and it has been trouble free. My only problem is that the blooms seem to look better with more vibrant color in hot weather, so most of the time, mine have been a soft flesh pink. It's also not the most floriferous tea I have grown. Mlle. Franziska Kruger: I bought this rose as Duchesse de Brabant, but it turned out to be MFK. Most of the time the flowers balled and mildewed, while the bush grew too vigorously. In my climate, even when the flowers did manage to open, they looked like they were stained with lipstick, with odd red coloring on the outer petals and a muddled yellow-apricot on the inner. So I removed it at the same time as Blumenschmidt. It seems like this may be a much better tea for warm, dry locations. Mamon Cochet: This was another tea that other folks love that just didn't work in my climate. Almost all of the flowers balled for me. But when they did open, they were spectacular. This one died on its own before I could remove it, but I was not upset, based on its performance. Marechal Neil: Just starting with this one, but it looks like I may have balling issues. I will wait and see. It's growing nicely for me so far. Marie d'Orleans: This had more deeply red flowers than any other tea I've grown, but I planted it in a difficult spot, and it died from lack of water before it could even get started. Miss Agnes C. Sherman: I'm really liking this tea, although after a quick start for me, it's been quiet this spring and summer. I am willing to give it time to continue to develop. Niphetos: I've posted about my struggles with Niphetos. It is extremely slow growing, it suffers from rust, mildew and any other disease that gets near it. Most of the time the flowers ball. But when I do get a perfect bloom (about once a year) it's probably my most spectacular rose. Rainbow: This one died almost immediately on me. I shouldn't have put the band directly into the ground. Souvenir d'un Ami: I had the generic version of this, with plain pink flowers, so I ended up taking it out. Thomasville Old Gold: This was another failed experiment for me--again, I probably shouldn't have put the band directly in the ground. William Allen Richardson: This is one of those roses that I've always wanted, and haven't been able to find. I got a small band from Vintage, and tried to give it as much love as possible, but it just didn't take off. If I ever find it again, I will give it another try. I have its descendant, Buff Beauty, which is one of my favorites.