With 35 reports thus far, here are the results. I did not ask about some suggested key identifiers, which are shown in bold. If you can confirm their existence on your Duchesse de Brabant, it would be interesting. I don't yet have a confirmed petal shape. If anyone has any leftover petals, flatten a typical petal under a book and describe the shape. I suspect that these are typically cuneate (wedge-shaped). Leaves open wrinkled and then smooth as they mature. Leaf margins are slightly wavy. Leaf texture is thin. Powdery mildew in coastal and central valley of California and in damp spring. Prickles beneath on petiole (mid-rib of leaf). Prickles on canes are scattered. Bloom form is globular (fewer petals) to cupped (more petals). Stamen: filaments are white to cream, anthers dark amber when fresh. Petal color is medium pink with cream to white centers, probably cuneate (wedge-shaped). Petals count: median 54 total, with range from 86-21. For those with a hand lens, the sepal margins are glandular ciliate. More than half report strong/fruity Tea fragrance. Some cannot detect Tea or did not report. Plants often grow to 8 ft. x 8 ft. Feel free to confirm this description or distinguish your plants if you haven't already described each of these characteristics. I would like to report these results to Billy West, one of the Teabags from Oz.

Even if you decide to air layer, I would still try to root a few cuttings. You can use a styrofoam cup with holes punched in the bottom, but I'm using some really small clay pots now (they don't blow over). I purchased the Jiffy brand seed starting mix to root mine in. I take a fresh cutting, pencil thickness if you have it, nick the outer skin near the base of the cutting, dip it in some rooting hormone, and place it in a hole that you form with a pencil, firm it up with your fingers, and keep moistened. There are several articles on the ARS website on how to root roses. Everyone has a favorite method that works well for them. It's fun. Personally, I don't have much luck with the baggie method, they rot on me. I root mine in full morning sun, late afternoon shade, and mist them several times a day with my garden hose turned to the mist setting. Eventually, we'll set up some automatic misting heads to an irrigation zone. I am having a fairly high success rate, and I am a brand new newbie at rooting. It can take 4 to 6 weeks before they root. It's been thrilling watching the first ones I rooted bloom. Sandy

Jacques Cartier & D de Brabant both do well here in coastal southern CA (I'm south of Jeri near Venice Beach). My garden is a bit too coastal for the Duchesse at times. Jacque Cartier is best in spring when it's cooler. It slows down in the hotter later portio of summer. But I still get several bloom cycles over 10 months. It is the most heat tolerant Portland or Hybrid Perpetual kind of rose I've grown. I would think that Teas would do pretty well for you given your location as long as they don't mildew. My garden isn't quite hot enough for them except in the fall.

BD and DdB are very different roses in style and growth habit. BD is a modern (1988) shrub rose, and DdB is an old tea rose. From the pictures I saw on HMF, BD makes a rounded, small to medium shrub with almost hybrid tea shaped blooms, which are all the same color and do not vary from a medium pink towards the blue end. Duchesse de Brabant gets MUCH bigger in warm climates - check out the pictures on HMF. Its growth habit is that of an old tea - all over the place until it matures into a rounded, but very large, bush. I have it in my garden and love it. The colors of its blooms vary from medium pink to a paler pink, to sometimes a much darker pink towards the yellow end. The blooms are the old elegant tea style - relaxed and frequently nodding. They are sometimes almost translucent in the sun and incredibly beautiful. So in my opinion they would not look good together. It is just a matter of personal preference which style you like better, but I would pick one and stick to it for the roses nearby. DdB looks great with Mrs. Dudley Cross, another, although smaller, old tea rose which is a light pink/yellow blend. Look up Maggie - the color is almost cerise, it is such a dark and bright pink. It is also an old tea, so it would look fine re growth habit, but I am not sure about the color. If you want to have Belinda's Dream, I would keep it away from the old teas - it is a much more formal shape - perhaps you could tuck it in somewhere where you have some sun and only room for one smaller rose. Just my thoughts - Jackie