I heartily endorse Marie d'Orleans. She is medium growing for a tea and not one to sprawl widely across your garden space. Slightly darker in color than General Tartas she mixes well with other teas.

Lance

I completely forgot to mention Bridesmaid which is also available now from Vintage. Light pink with a high center on opening she is not such a small tea but with careful pruning could be kept from taking over the property.

I like Bridesmaid very much -- the color has more depth than Catherine Mermet, and it's never gotten over 4 ft. here.

Jeri

Bridesmaid is a beautiful rose. It's one of the few tea roses that I can smell. It remains relatively compact compared to many of the other tea roses I grow.

Elaine

HMF indicates bridesmaid is hardy to zone 6b - anyone on the east coast (Virginia North) have experience with this?

Ingrid, would you be interested in Mme. Antoine Mari? Mine is young but I understand it will stay pretty small. Vintage lists its clone as growth habit 1. I like the blooms. It's very disease resistant, but that's probably not an issue for you.

Call me difficult but, although I really appreciate your suggestions, none of them are exactly what I'm looking for. I've never considered a bourbon but I don't have blackspot and wondered if anyone knows about Madame Cornelissen. It's available at Vintage and it looks beautiful there and on HMF. Perhaps it's that I'm looking for a rose with more petals than those mentioned.

FWIW, Bourbons, on the whole, seem not to be well-suited to Southern California.

Jeri

Madame Cornelissen is a sport of SDLM. and as such should do well in any hot, dry area. Mine grows to about 3ft. so far. It is an excellent rose, being IMHO even more beautiful and elegant than its parent, but in my yard it is not pink. The color is subtle and hard to describe, a kind of ivory tinged with apricot in the center. SDLM Rouge is a very nice medium pink.

Ingrid, have you considered Georgetown Tea? I love mine.

Carla

It may not have enough petals but a poly-tea that I saw and loved in Gregg's garden was Lady Ann Kidwell. Smaller bush, the buds were elongated and beautiful and it was covered in the most beautiful blooms.

SdlM Rouge is a beautiful small bush that blooms alot and has petal packed blooms. I would think that if your climate is hot and dry it would do fine in your climate but I know not one thing about growing roses in your area other than what roses looked healthy and beautiful in the gardens I visited while there:-)

Carol

I would have jumped at the opportunity of obtaining Georgetown Tea or SdlM Rouge but unfortunately Vintage doesn't carry either one at the moment. I'll do some more research on Lady Ann Kidwell. It sounds very pretty.

Madame Cornelissen may be too pale since it would be cheek by jowl with Blumenschmidt, which is why I wanted a pink. It does look very lovely though, and I'm very tempted.

Thanks to all so much.

Ingrid

It may not have enough petals but a poly-tea that I saw and loved in Gregg's garden was Lady Ann Kidwell.

I'll second LAK. She's a beauty in my conditions. And disease-free, too.

Jeri

I've decided to take a little gamble with Madame Cornelissen and will rearrange my planting ideas to create a harmonious color scheme.

You've all been great. Thanks again.

Ingrid

She is beautiful. I hope she does well for you. I love Bourbons. I noticed that Cass grows her and there were other photo's from rose growers in California so maybe she will thrive in your garden!

Carol

I'm too late! I was going to suggest Mlle Franziska Kruger. A lovely pink to yellow/apricot tea.

buford, I've had the beautiful MFK and she hated me with a vengeance. But thank you for the suggestion.

Carol, I'm excited about getting this rose. If I don't try a bourbon I'll never know how it will do, and suddenly I feel the need to know. Thanks for your good wishes.

Ingrid

Mme. C. will steal your heart.

I love Anna Olivier (Bermuda). I got mine from Roses Unlimited. Pink Apricot, very full and good size for a Tea with excellent fragrance. Doesn't get too big if you keep it cut back. I just take a little extra off when I deadhead. I don't think it gets very big anyway.

Patrick

Patrick, I would have ordered Anna if she'd been available after seeing her in the Tea Rose book. Or is yours different, since you indicated Bermuda? Your description sounds wonderful, just what I was looking for. Roses Unlimited is very expensive for me with the shipping cross country but their selection is to die for. I could afford it but I just can't justify it to myself when we have great nurseries in California and Oregon. But thank you for mentioning her, just in case she becomes available more locally.

Ingrid

Patrick --

I don't have Anna Olivier, but I would sure consider it, based on my experience
so far with 'Lady Roberts.'

These seem to be everything I want in a Tea Rose. Sort of "must-have" roses
for mild-climate gardens.

Jeri