Found this page via Google.
Maybe it will help with your question:
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/gl.php?n=158
The Lioness

Not much.

Hybrid Chinas partake more of the character of the European side of the family.
They are once-blooming, spring or summer.
They may need a bit less chill than the "pure" Gallicas and the like, but they do need some.

Cardinal de Richelieu is a good example of a Hybrid China (tho it may be classed as a Gallica?).
ARS uses this class name differently (and incorrectly) for most of the real Chinas.
Vintage uses it as it was historically used: crosses of China Roses with European
(usually not-remontant) roses.

Most of them are to-die-for beautiful. :-)

Jeri

Thank you - I'm going to try one. I really want a purple rose and these two, Velours Episcopal and Alice Vena, look like good candidates.

Mary

Oh, I've seen pix of them, and they are to die for!
Get Cardinal de Richelieu, as well!

Jeri

I had always dismissed this group from consideration because of the once-blooming habit but am curious now how long the actual blooming period is and whether these roses do well in Southern California. Does anyone have that information?

Ingrid

One small correction, Jeri -- ARS FINALLY seems to have it right, after much cajoling from us here and from the HRF. One or two examples accidentally slipped through the cracks in MR12, but the concept now seems to be correct, so we just need to report the goofs, as we normally would, for future editions.
Malcolm

I fully disagree with china roses being once bloomers.
this is completely WRONG and totally absurd!!!
They were introduced in Europe in 1789 form china and revolutioned the history of roses as they were the first continuously blooming roses.
They became very popular and were immediately used to cross with the once-blooming roses.
chinensis mutabilis for instance blooms from early march to late october in zone 8 and is evergreen more in the south.
Old blush has an impressing bloom in early spring and late autumn, and in between has always some flowers popping up.
They are disease resistant, drought resistant and don't have to be pruned.
They are unfortunately odorless.
But I forgive them, as they are always in bloom.
They tolerate poor soils and are among the best roses for the south.
Will not be happy in cold areas, go with rugosas if you live in a cold place.

Allopapallo, That's the point -- "Hybrid" Chinas are NOT Chinas. As you say, Chinas repeat; Hybrid Chinas, by definition, do not. As Jeri says, they take after the European half of their ancestors -- usually first-generation crosses of Chinas with European (often Gallica) types. In the previous edition of Modern Roses (XI), ARS made all Chinas to be called Hybrid Chinas, and that was a large error. They seem now to have fixed it.

Some Chinas protected in zone 3 offer an abundance of bloom on small bushes, largest of mine maybe 3 feet, most one to two feet. Of course you have to be on the fringe to grow them here but they definitely they are not wimpish in the cool.

Hybrid chinas on the other hand mostly left on their on free will from my garden even when protected. Not sure how you take a northern European old rose, cross it with a china and come out with a cold weather wimp.

Hybrid Chinas are excellent in my moderate climate: vigorous, with completely disease free dark green, matte, gallica-like foliage on tall, somewhat thin and limber-caned luxuriant plants. Some of the best poiples and violets out there are Hybrid Chinas. The blooms are fairly small - - around 2.5 to 3 inches max, borne in profusion. Sadly, most have absolutely no scent, other than the straw scent I associate with some Gallicas. Maybe another nose can smell them. They are wonderful pillar roses. Some even have sparse prickles. They belong in the back of the border or on a structure.

I have Duchesse d'Angouleme, and it's not typical except in growth habit, in that it has light blush to white blooms. The Bishop, "Mrs. Keay's The Bishop" and Ruth's Steeple Rose are fabulous. I have "Brooks Family Gallica," which may be the same as Mary Lawrance's Shell Rose. If you like poiple, these are good roses.

Here is a link that might be useful: My most poiple poiple rose

I love these roses but I do have a good climate for once bloomers in general. Because it is cool here at night the bloom lasts and lasts-sometimes as much as 6 weeks to two months depending...so how long a bloom you get depends on where you are. Hot weather can take them out fast.

patricia

Cass, I have not grown the ones you mention, and I am very impressed with the picture of the Brooks Family Gallica. How long a bloom do you get from them? My hybrid chinas/gallicas bloom two to three weeks on a good year, which disappoints me.

Rosefolly

Duchesse de Montebello most certainly has some China in it's heritage. Was kinda semi-evergreen this winter, at least she kept her leaves on rather long, and then unfurled new Spring leaves rather early, I think the first to leave out. Silly girl.

I've heard that Hippolyte and Belle de Crecy are considered gallica/china hybrids as well. Can anybody verify?

Gee, Rosefolly, I consider two to three weeks to be perfectly acceptable in a once bloomer. To tell the truth, I can't tell you how long the bloom period is. The spring flush is such a haze, everything happens so fast, I'm so busy. I never notice unless the flush is ruined by something - - late rain or early heatwave. This year, I lost Charles de Mills after about a week, when temps went up to 100 in mid-May. Since it happens every year, that's the one that frustrates me the most.

I'm interested in this group of roses. I have Alice Vena (thanks Lori) and Velours Episcopal classified as Hybrid Chinas (in my personal data base). I also have Cardinal de le Richelieu, The Bishop, Hippolyte, Charles de Mills, Belle de Crecy, Duchesse de Montebello, Duchess de Angouleme. Most of these I've got classified as "gallicas." How can I distinguish the Hybrid Chinas from the Gallicas just from appearance? Or do I need to research the lineage of each rose? I do see a significant difference in the leaves of Cardinal de le Richieleu from, say Charles de Mills or Duchesse de Montebello. But, most of these "hybrid chinas" look, to me, just like my gallicas.

I believe the distinction lies in their genetic makeup. Their pedigree.
Also in this -- though they are not remontant, they carry the gene as a recessive.
So a HCh, bred to a remontant rose, can produce remontant offspring.
Where a Gallica, bred to a remontant rose, does not.

Jeri

Robert, rose classification is, at best, a tricky business, as there are few bright lines. One class invariably blends into another. But...if you take a look at the plant habit line drawing on the Vintage Gardens website or in their Book of the Rose, you will see that the Hybrid Chinas are generally about twice as tall as the Gallicas.

The Gallicas tend to be widely suckering, waist- to chest-high affairs that form a colony, while the Hybrid Chinas tend to be at least 8 feet high, vase-shaped, with more wiry canes. Budding blurs some of these growth habit distinctions.

Here is a link that might be useful: definitions of Hybrid China vs. French (Gallica) roses in 1854

Duchess de Montebello, (and Mme. Plantier) we personally categorize as hybrid noisettes. Slightly different beasts.

This information clears things up for me. I appreciate it. Thanks, everyone.