To me, the greatest yellow tea rose is Lady Hillingdon. Almost egg yolk colored in cool weather and often very light lemon in the heat. Red new foliage, good health here in Sacramento, grows well in full sun or part shade for us. It does fine "up against a wall" in southern exposures in the UK. (The old joke says she's not good in bed, but fine up against a wall....)

I grow Etoile de Lyon with much less success - flowers ball and are very susceptible to thrips damage.

Many people love Safrano but I find its low petal count and formless flowers don't do well in the heat.

Tea-noisettes also have some wonderful yellows, from light tints to more golden roses like Reve d'Or to deeper apricot-yellows like Crepuscule. They usually are climbers but some can be grown as a shrub. I've never grown William Allen Richardson but admire it.

Anita

I would put Lady Hillingdon at the top of the list, too. She makes a fine, full shrub both here and at the SJHRG, doing very well during heat waves in full sun, and is characterized as one of the most cold-tolerant teas, also.

Etoile de Lyon often does have issues with the first flush, though there is no tougher or more beautiful and floriferous rose in a heat wave (unlike many, the blooms do not get tiny, at all, in summer). It's flowers do not nod much, however.

Souvenir de Pierre Notting, aka Yellow Maman Cochet, is similar to EdL, with less tendency toward first flush issues but similar heat tolerance. The blooms and bush are a more lax and nodding than EdL.

All of these have clean foliage here (little or no PM), a big plus.

Lady Hillingdon makes me go weak in the knees- the scent and the color, to me, are exquisite and I happen to think the "nodding" habit of tea roses is charming. Really lovely buds, and the plum-colored new growth is striking. I'd never seen it in person before visiting the Sacramento Historic Cemetery Rose Garden in April, but after that I HAD to have it, even though I know my climate is not ideal. Both of the bushes growing in the cemetery are really impressive (she will NEVER be like that here, but I don't care). Lady Hillingdon stole my heart.

I have Lady Hillingdon but don't think she cares for my endlessly hot climate. Etoile de Lyon is pretty good and so is Souvenir de Pierre Notting which took a while to establish.

However, I'm thinking that if the spot you have in mind hasn't been good for yellow bells which are easy in my hot climate, it might be too hot for a rose. But, if you're getting Golden Celebration to grow in your climate, it might be ok. I have not had any luck with that rose, which I attributed to our heat.

Cemeteryrose... lol... everyday I read something new and/or informative on this forum!

jerijen, I reside in Las Vegas which is 9b... closer to a lot of the hotter areas of CA whereas Reno is very different in terms of heat ( they will actually hit 82 today whereas it is 102 degrees here). Las Vegas receives the least amount of rainfall for a major city, 4.5" annually, whereas they get about 7.5". It also becomes pretty cold there relative to us down here in the southern part of the state. Do you think that would be a major factor with Licorice Tea?

Zjw727, like you, I find those "nodding" roses to exude charm. I like my garden to be very balanced, neat, symmetrical, I am so particular about colors and combos ( it is tough being the gardening me; especially here in L.V.). I do not grow any formal shrubs, and anything that nods, spills over into walkways that visually draw you in, while perfuming the air, just takes my breath away. It is like heaven on earth...

Thank you for the many suggestions. I will be off to a great start researching these items as there is not a single rose on the list that I am familiar with for certain except for Crepuscule.

Lynn

Lady H is one of my favorites, too. And I like Crepuscule, if possible, even better. However it is more gold than yellow to my eye.

My climate is not as hot as yours, so I do not offer advice as to which would be happier.

Rosefolly

Lady Hillingdon has always stopped me dead in my tracks, too, zjw. Particularly when the flowers are fresh, and conditions are perfect for detecting her mild, fresh, ripe apricot scent. Kim

Sacramento is not as hot and dry as Las Vegas. Our heat has not been an issue for LH's low petal count. I've never grown Souv de Pierre Notting so have no opinions - although I'd love to try it. I never have the patience to pick off outer petals, not even in roses at home. If they can't unfurl without my assistance, they don't belong in my garden!
Anita

Roseseek,

Oh my, what a beauty.

Thank you all for posting the images.

I conducted a HMF search and was drawn to the roses suggested by you all.

I am leaning toward Lady Hillingdon and Crepuscule, but likely Crepuscule because I think it could fair better in terms of heat tolerance??

Lynn

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Thu, Aug 1, 13 at 15:48

Lynn -- Don't EVER take my advice over that of someone like Jasper, or Ingrid, who live in desert conditions. ;-)

Jeri

jaspermplants,

Golden Celebration took almost 3 years, growing under the filtered sun of a palm frond, to come into its own. It was beautiful; a full 6' shrub with gorgeous, fragrant blooms. It was on Dr. Huey rootstock. I transplanted it into this garden, but it died due to an irrigation failure. I have a new band sitting on my patio. It is a water hog; which I hope to do something about when I create new beds this fall.

I would be placing the tea rose where in my current yellow bell is. I lost two in the area this past year during the cold snap, but the one planted two months prior to those is growing like crazy, just no blooms. I am thinking it had a bit too much nitrogen. Nonetheless, I am done with the yellow bells. I have two of the softer orange bells that receive about 7 hours of sun until the early evening and they are monsters, but not much in terms of blooms either. I definitely need to adjust the PK in the NPK.

Lynn

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Thu, Aug 1, 13 at 16:41

I have 'Souvenir de Pierre Notting' in a " pride of place" setting. I bought the rose at the Old Rose Celebration when it was the only yellow Tea left for sale. I wish I had waited to buy a better Tea for my climate because although this is a gorgeous rose in a cooler climate, when the temperatures are above 85 F. the outer petals rapidly form an ugly brown ruff, because they are thinner and lighter of substance than the central petals. The Australian Tea rose book mentions the ugly brown ruff, but I read it after I bought the rose.

Similar in color to Souvenir de Pierre Notting, in cool weather both are edged with pink, is the heartbreakingly splendid;
"Alliance Franco-Russe' a yellow which has large shapely blooms,
in spring, and when starting a new flush it shows a stunning combination of yellow rose blossoms against red leaves, a real eye catcher. . Oh, I love this rose!!!

One of my favorite roses in my entire garden is:
'Celine Forestier" which has a wonderful fragrance, and has very disease resistant foliage here. I only wish it was a more saturated yellow, in summer it appears icy white with a drop of lemon color to the saturation mix. Pickeringnurseries.com sells 2 year old plants on r. mult.
'Etoille de Lyon' is a fine rose here, I especially love the slight blue tint to the leaves and how it shows up next to the lemon yellow roses. This rose has a fragrance which reminds me of honeysuckle and whipped cream, I have read other descriptions of its' scent as being "delicious"

I also love 'Reve d'Or" but it fades to a buff-cream when it gets much above 80F, it can easily be grown as a 5 1/2' limbed freestanding plant. Crepescule holds its color better in high temperatures, here than Reve d'or'
"Crepescule' here is the cleanest apricot Tea or Tea-Noisette we grow,
It has dark green glossy leaves that make the plant attractive even when it is not in bloom, which is rarely.

I believe that all yellow Tea roses hold their color better in hot climates when planted in some shade.

My list of favorite lemon yellow Teas, for beauty of bloom and bush:
1. Alliance Franco-Russe
2. Alexander Hill Gray
3. Etoille de Lyon

Favorite Apricot blend Teas
1. Anna Olivier' although described as a pink Tea, Tea roses are mutable and i have only ever seen this rose bloom in an apricot blend, with much less pink ( a southern nursery sells the yellow form, I think) This has the strongest fragrance of all the Tea roses I've ever smelled, a rich fruity blend of floral notes, yum. Lady Roberts is an apricot-orange blend color sport.
2. Crepescule, moderate fragrance.
3. Reve d'Or ' light scent, it only blooms apricot in the cooler weeks of spring and autumn, here But it is striking at its best.
I'm not a great fan of Lady Hillingdon and I often wonder "What is wrong with me?" I try to love her, I really do.
4.Alistair Stella Gray

Lux

luxrosa,

Thank you for the information. I originally was searching for a deeper or more golden yellow, but looked out my window and saw how nicely Crepuscule would work in terms of the color. It would be adjacent to my softer orange bells ( it is not orange bells, but the softer orange in the "bells" plants; I just cannot remember the name). It is above 80 degrees here from late- April until mid- October, so a rose that doesn't do well in the heat; albeit dry heat ( 90 degrees feels very, very nice here, whereas I almost died in Florida when it was just under that temperature, and when I lived in coastal CA, begged for lower temperatures). Nonetheless, for many plants, it is still heat, and clearly, some of those gorgeous tea roses would not be happy at all here. I am also very attracted to plants that have nice dark green foliage; which also seems to fair better in the heat.

Crepuscule is still the front-runner :) I am trying to determine if it would be happy here in a site where it would only get about 4-5 hours of late morning - early afternoon sun and then complete shade, or if there is a better candidate.

Lynn

If you need a yellow rose for a very hot spot, one I can recommend is Eurostar. It is a floribunda however. I learned about this rose while visiting Eurodesert Roses when that nursery was closing. Had to discipline myself on trips to look for specific things or the sheer number of roses was overwhelming. Anyway on one particular trip I was on a quest for yellow. That morning when I arrived it was already over 110 degrees--and progressed way upward during the afternoon. Felt like walking in an oven. Some roses really impressed me with their heat tolerance. Eurostar (aka Summer Gold and a slew of other names) was one. Flowers looked terrific in full sun (although they go pale yellow in over 100 degree weather). Flowers are old fashioned, globular looking, and fragrant.

I bought the plant and brought it home. Discovered it craves HEAT. Doesn't bloom much if at all in cool weather. Only when it starts getting really hot around here does it start to bloom. Thinks 90s and 100s. Isn't a water guzzler either. So if you have a spot that is too hot for others, this one might be worth a try. Grows in a vase shape, mine is about 3 feet tall. Very thorny! One of the HMF users posted that this rose nodded for her (and she didn't like it for that reason). It doesn't nod here though.

Another really impressive performer for me in the heat is R. foetida 'Persiana'. It is the most intense yellow rose I've ever seen. Flowers actually become more yellow in full sun which is the opposite of most yellow garden roses. It's heat and drought tolerant. But only a once bloomer, and the fragrance is an acquired taste (smells like linseed oil which I equate more with food than with a typical rosey scent).

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Eurostar on HMF

Tessiess,

R. foetida 'Persiana is a class of rose that I am unfamiliar, but it is beautiful and looks to be a vigorous grower; I like that!! If a plant is going to bloom, I want to see it bloom!!

Because the images online vary so much, and you have seen these beauties, would you describe the color as more of a lemon yellow or golden yellow?

Lynn

Persiana is screaming yellow!!!!

Melissa

I think that Crepuscule would do ok with just 4-5 hours sun, since it would be intense Las Vegas light! Mine at home doesn't get more than that, and the one in the cemetery gets some shade too.

Lady Hillingdon's foliage is dark green, and I still believe she does very well in heat and is undaunted by our occasional hard freezes.
Anita

Foetida and its variants are marvelous, interesting, ONCE FLOWERING, vigrously colonizing, suckering plants, Lynn. If you have room for and like the "wild look" they can be great. You can find Persian Yellow and the single versions of Foetida all over Nevada. My plant of Persian Yellow which I grew for over twenty years, I collected from the Austin, Nevada cemetery. Even after I identified it, I continued calling it "Austin Cemetery". That entire cemetery was filled with it in June of 1987 when I collected it outside their fence.

If you want more than the eventual explosion of color in late spring, go for something hybridized and more modern. If a largish, open, "wild type" shrub which demands all the square feet it can help itself to, and only provides color for a few weeks (if that in Las Vegas) works for you, use Persian Yellow. Kim

I appreciate the candid descriptions.

I am more partial to the golden yellow that may soften or apricots, so I am back to the Lady Hillingdon and Crepuscule being the front-runners. I like nodding and spilling into walkways, but the wild look, that wouldn't work well with my limited suburban space or psyche, for lack of a better description.

Lynn

I planted my Lady Hillingdon a couple of months ago. She was small, had been in her 1g pot for a while and looked ready to be in a 5g but I decided to plant in the ground instead.

I ended up shading her with a chair because she just was not happy with the extra wall heat. She is doing better, lots of wine colored new growth and I missed a bud so she does have one.

On the other hand, Revd Or is probably 5 times the size both purchased at the same time. But I expect Revd Or to be much bigger in the end so I guess that is normal.

Kippythehippy,

How long had Lady Hillingdon been growing prior to being ready for a larger pot?

Own roots are new for me. In the past, I've only had one, and didn't handle it properly so it was not a good experience. I am trying to gauge just how rapidly, in general of course, it takes before a band placed in a one gallon pot is ready to move up to a 3 or 5 gallon pot.

I think that Rev d' Or would consume the space and then some, but it is another beauty:) I am at still at odds between Lady Hillingdon and Crepescule:( Some fact or circumstance will likely break this tie; I just haven't discovered it yet .

Lynn

The bush Lady Hillingdon had been less than stellar for me in two hot gardens, and I would suggest Cl. Lady Hillingdon instead, which I think might also work as a large bush. Crepuscule did very well for me in a hot garden, has a more golden color than Lady Hillingdon, and is rather chunky even though it's described as a climber. Alexander Hill Gray did not do well for me although the flowers are very beautiful, only pale yellow in my garden. Mine had major mildew and balling issues, but spring here can be foggy and damp. Souvenir de Pierre Notting did well for me in another hot garden, but I just couldn't seem to love it very much. Celine Forestier grew at a glacial pace and is not really yellow. I loved Reve d'Or but it was against a hot wall and died a little more each year. It does get very large. There seem to be a lot more good pink teas than yellow ones!

Ingrid

Lynn

If I remember right, I bought both roses for Christmas. RdO has been in the ground for about 3+ months because it was growing so fast.

Lady Hillingdon was in a pot til mid June. I did not ask for a climbing LH so guessing it is the brush form.

Crepuscule would be a much larger plant than the shrub form of Lady Hillingdon. The one at the SJHRG, as a climber, is immense; I had a free-standing Crepuscule that was approx. 7-8' tall and 9-10' wide after 6 or 7 years in the ground, at which point I lost it to oak root fungus. The edges of the blooms would crisp on hot days, but there were always a bunch of new blooms opening, so it looked reasonably good even in heat waves. A touch of mildew in the spring, maybe, but very clean foliage overall. It's a wonderful rose.

Alliance Franco-Russe held prime real estate here for over 6 years but literally never, during that entire time, was without severe mildew, even in late summer when even the roses most prone to it usually shake it off, if only briefly. It's now gone and I don't miss it.

Lux, your Etoile de Lyon doesn't get the "brown ruff"? The Australian tea book notes that it happens for EdL, too. Here both EdL and Souvenir de Pierre Notting get it (EdL worse than SdPN, actually), but usually only during their first flush and maybe late, late in the fall. I have attributed it to the conditions being both damp and cool then, not heat, because flushes later in the summer on both generally have very little browning of the outer petals (even with dew in the morning) and produce the best flowers. (photos of them below were taken this morning).

I wasn't all that impressed with Souvenir de Pierre Notting, either, until this year. The bush has finally filled in well and the flushes have gone from desultory and meager to substantial. I haven't been treating it any differently -- I think it's just reached a level of maturity that allows better blooms.

My Celine Forestier is definitely yellow. In the photo taken this morning (below) there's a slight pinkish cast that happens later in the season; the first flush is generally pure pale yellow and flowers 5" across that look like pom-poms (later-season flowers smaller). Ingrid, I'm curious to know what color was yours?

Souvenir de Pierre Notting:
{{gwi:300152}}

Etoile de Lyon:

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Celine Forestier:

{{gwi:300156}}

catspa, my Celine Forestier was very pale, almost white, in the middle with pink around the edges. It was never what one would call a gorgeous bloom, even after three years, and a very slow grower, and I couldn't justify all the water I had given it for so little result. I'm sure if we'd had more rain this might have been a much better rose for me, but there are roses that seem worth the effort and this wasn't one of them. I know Jerome some time ago showed pictures of his, and what a gorgeous rose that was. It continually amazes me how results will differ from one garden to another with the same plant.

Ingrid

Catspa, those pics are gorgeous!

Ingrid -- I'd be surprised if many of the roses in your garden were not wildly different from the same roses in cooler climates.

Jeri

Jeri, you are so right. I really think many of these roses are much more beautiful when they're not so stressed by the heat and lack of humidity in my garden.

Ingrid

Thanks, zjw -- my new camera has been a real help!

Thank you for that info, Ingrid. It occurs to me that the yellow color of my Celine Forestier may be reinforced by its location, which has some afternoon shade, and that yours, perhaps, was in full sunlight? Some yellows (Etoile de Lyon is one) wash out to near-white with full sunlight -- a common complaint in reviews of yellow roses, historically, I've noticed.. My full-sun Etoile de Lyon, for example, only has yellow blooms with 1) a series of cloudy days, 2) blooms sheltered within the canopy of leaves, and 3) blooms cut and brought inside. The most amazing thing to me with EdL is that you can cut a practically white bloom and after a day or so in the house, it will be a strong medium yellow. Something to keep in mind when planning those color schemes, I guess.