Joanna, My tolerance for BS and leaf loss may be higher than yours, but, I'll say what I've seen so far... The wichuriannas are near perfect...Paul Transon repeats a little. Blush Noisette is not looking good...spotty and leafloss, but, I believe it will take time to get going. Lamarque- some mildew, slow to get going, no bs MAC-some bs, some leafloss (30%) Crepuscule - succumbed to the goats...will get another Reve D'Or- may be mislabled, no diseases on what i've got Mme. G. Staechlin- no diseases, vigorous, once bloomer Blush Noisette- yucky so far Celine Forrestier- slow to get going, no problems yet Ghislaine de Feligonde-near perfect...heavy first flush and flowers the rest of the year off an on.. Aimee Vibert-don't have Gloire de Dijon-some spots, 50% leaf loss, succombed to goats, it has been replaced Souvenir de Mme. Leonie Viennot (not sure about this one)died after being moved...no problems when I had it SDLM (worried this may ball in my humid/hot climate)- so far so good, no major problems William A. Richardson -just starting to take off, no sign of disease Desprez a Fleurs Jaunes-just starting out, too soon to comment Duchesse D'Auerstadt-same as Jaune Desprez Sombreuil-some spots, 30% leaf loss Lady Hillingdon, cl- don't have it yet Paul Lede (disease?) don't have it yet Cramoisi Superieur, cl -no disease yet plus: Clair Matin some spots, 10% leaf loss, blooms constantly...a must have rose I hope this helps some. I'm really finding out that you've got to try the roses for yourself and see what you're willing to tolerate and what you're unwilling to tolerate. If a rose is vigorous and blooms and loses some leaves, I'm thrilled. I'm growing clematis through all these roses, so if they lose 50% of the leaves, and it doesn't slow the rose down, I'm fine with it. I will NOT spray. Robert

Michael, I'll add Electron to the deer-proof list. Some hybrid teas with huge, gorgeous, flowers are complete sociopaths. Thank you for the welder's gloves tip. I could really use some. Perhaps I could slip another pair of gloves underneath if the welder's are too large. Stanwell has the advantage at the moment. Campanula, you've reinforced my decision to avoid Madame LL. I, too, was once tempted by a generous description but saved by good fortune. Sometimes it serves one well to hit the ceiling of a gardening budget. You DO write books, don't you? No one could top your final description of Madame! Sweet briars: it does make a difference, doesn't it, when one walks into the relationship with the expectation of arming to the teeth? Catspa--Alba Odorata and Fakir's Delight. 1/2 inch thorns. I pulled out a ruler and looked at the 1/2 inch mark. Eeeouwww, AO! "Fakir's Delight" must be one of those sinister tongue-to-the-cheek expressions like "iron maiden." Kate, don't you love it when no one informs you that the roses you are selecting are genetic mutants resulting from some kind of Island of Dr. Moreau cross with a Tyrannosaurus rex? One never discovers the fact until the roses have rooted to the other side of the globe and wedged themselves between the foundation and a stand of precious and expensive perennials in an exceptionally narrow bed smack against your front door. Carol

Joanna, Indica will be great, tho it suckers and your will have to be vigilant removing the suckers. This isn't a list my Teas, but rather, of my Teas, those I consider outstanding in dry heat. I assumed, maybe wrongfully, that you weren't looking for a list of 20. We consider Le Vesuve a Tea/China-somewhere betwixt and between, by the way. It's a huge rose and doesn't grow like a China. As to pruning, if you do it intelligently, both Teas and Chinas can be pruned successfully, within reason. A rose that is genetically predisposed to be 8 x 8 in your climate will not be happy budded to Indica (which will push very substantial growth) and then pruned to be kept to 4 feet high and, worse, 3 feet wide. That has been tried over and over in botantical collections, and the specimens aren't lovely. Better to grow one Tea that is allowed to fully express its natural grandeur than three Teas butchered to be a quarter their natural size. Just my opinion, of course. As for pruning, I suggest you allow them to approach their maturity before engaging in much serious pruning, anything more than the Three D's (remove dead, disease and distracting growth). After three or so years, you will have a very clear idea of their growth habit and how to sustain and support it through pruning. It's different from other classes of roses. Let me leave it at that to avoid an extended regurgitation of what has already been discussed at length. You can email me directly (if you missed the discussion) at cbernstein at earthlink dot net. How is your water quality? Teas don't do well with poor quality water, and yellow roses in particular fail quickly in water that is marginally high in sodium and boron. I tried that experiment already. Finally, I hope Jerome has a moment to raise his head and comment on the best Teas in his climate, which is even closer to your's than mine. We do find that roses with not many petals become almost single in the high heat -- in a way, disappointing. You can see the amazing transformation by checking out the shots of General Tartas on HelpMeFind. It's hard to believe it's the same rose, but I took the shots in my own garden, so it's certifiable. -- Cass Here is a link that might be useful: Changes in petallage and color from heat

Sara-Ann, Another thing I thought of with Austins. In the light pinks there are many look-alikes. And white-based pinks vs. yellow-based pinks. Cameras can make the first appear to be the second. That's a question to ask if you have a preference. And it never occurred to me that Austins can have 6 small flower buds each on 4 upright stems on a main stem. Duh. But until I saw 'Windermere' it hadn't occurred to me. Here is one of my lusts growing over 5 ft. with multi mini candelabras atop a long stem. For a bouquet I have to cut one of the candelabras with buds tightly closed and opened?! I also cooled on 'Queen of Sweden' for that reason. I love my 'Apricot Nectar' sprays but those 2 Austins ..... maybe it was the formality and rigidity of how the buds/flowers were held that didn't ring my chimes. Growth habit (Austin) was the biggest adjustment for me. I still love the sculptured beauty of a hybrid tea bud but Austins in the blended pink/peach tones make me swoon.