I grow Rainbow and I like it very much. Not as huge as most Tea's. Mine has reached 6 ft after several years. Gets some blackspot here but regrows foliage and never stops blooming. Typical Tea growth habit though foliage seems sparse compared to some Tea's. I like it so much, I have considered ordering its "Papa" :-)

{{gwi:307883}}

{{gwi:235160}}

Carol

Rainbow is one of my favorites. Blooms a lot.

Carla

Never has been a big rose here but the blooms are so nice. Bought mine from Heirloom in Oregon when I first started growing old garden roses ten years ago.

Lance

We have plants rustled from two different spots growing in the cemetery. Planted both a couple of years ago. They have been slow to get established, and seem more like an early HT in growth than a tea - more upright, blossoms don't nod, flowers are borne singly, I believe. Both plants started blooming as soon as they went in the ground and have bloomed well every since. Maybe we should have removed the flower buds and let it put its energy into leaves and canes!

I really expect them to stay relatively small. So far, they show no sign of putting on the width that most teas do.
Anita

Yah, I agree with all of that. Mine is a rustled plant from a very old homestead. It blooms all the time but isn't much of a stout plant. I'd plant it with a bruiser that can lend donor foliage and yet won't eat it.

Ha! I agree Cass, I planted mine next to Mary Washington who "lends" some of her foliage but can be trimmed back if she gets too rambunctious. She grows wider than tall and it works out well. Rainbow does grow upright but she also has the tea tendency to send canes out at crazy angles in every direction. Mine is only about 3-4 feet wide and it literally took it years and long, warm, growing seasons to get to this size.

Carol

I want this one bad! I don't know what it is but I fell in love with it the moment I saw it on Vintages site. I hope Vintage lasts long enough for me to order it in the spring...they only have it custom root right now.

In my climate (and even in warmer, drier climates) this rose can have some
problems with powdery mildew.

I speculate that if you ever got one to grow really big and robust, it might not
have mildew problems?

OTOH, maybe this is one of the roses that is striped BECAUSE it has
a virus.

Jeri

Rainbow has no PM here. It still isn't stout. And it grows like a crazy quilt.

If you need more coaxing.
{{gwi:228152}}

gorgeous carla...I am off to order now....now if I can just figure out where to put it!

Wow- I was away for the weekend and so thrilled to see your replies- thanks so much! I think I will go ahead and try to get it. I live in FL and will plant it next to my garage which gets sun most of the day. Maybe I will buy it's mom/dad Papa Gontier, which I use to grow at my other house, and really liked. I love striped roses, but my experience with them in Tampa has been a bit challenging, particularly with more modern roses that are striped, because I don't spray and they get b.s. so badly. Hopefully since Rainbow is a tea, it will be as healthy as Papa Gontier was for me. I thought I saw that Roses Unlimited had it once- I will check. And by the way, those photos are so inspiring!

actually vintage released their list so they have it now. I ordered one from them.

I had one a few years ago. I liked the flowers well enough but its leaves would yellow and fall off like crazy. I didn't see spots either. I don't know what was going on but it drove me crazy. :-/