Keep Lemon Spice. It gets better and better. Is your own root or grafted?

Add Messenger to the list of items you need. It does help.

Lemon Spice should do reasonably well. Mine is on its own roots and is at least still trying to make a go of it after an otherwise miserable start to this year.

I too have not have the best of luck with HT's....in fact the only ones I have left is Veteren's Honor and it is doing very nicely. Tiffany, which gets a little spotty once in a while. I also have Granada which is doing so-so, it may hget SP'ed tho. I think when it comes to HT's in our neck of the woods, we either have to do our homework or just keep our fingers crossed.

Just looked up you Incense Indigo...a very pretty rose. I hope it does well for you.

Tammy

Pete, I'm not trying to make it hard. In fact, the thing with HT's is why 99% of my roses are Teas, Chinas, shrubs and older ones. I don't have to beg them to bloom. That is why I love antique roses, just water them and they behave.
Tammy, I bought that rose at RU not even looking to see what class it was. I smelled it and was sold.
Ceterum, I'm not sure about LS, may be grafted. I guess when it comes down to it, I don't want to babysit HTs when I can have gorgeous bushes full of blooms from old roses.
Heirloom, now that's another I love love love but will probably not try to grow.

Thanks everyone, continue
Carla

Carla, it just takes patience and a lot of care, especially with blackspot treatment. Regular spraying, regular watering, organic fertilizers (especially alfalfa). Works for me. Most of my roses are HTs or minis.

Oh, and Incense Indigo wasn't winter hardy for me (RU says zone 7) I hope it does well for you.

Carla, I tend to not grow hybrid-teas myself. They need
perfect conditions and are so demanding. There are some
exceptions to the rule, of course. But there are only a
few that I would want to try.

It has been my experience that most Hybrid Teas are terminally addicted to black spot. They vie with the Hybrid Perpetuals as the most disease prone roses in the world and will completely defoliate if not sprayed with a fungicide.

The MCCARTNEY ROSE seems to be the exception to the rule.

Heirloom is worth the trouble. If you don't believe me, ask Pete.

Oh crap Diane, I am so dumb sometimes!!! Like I said above I got enthralled with the fragrance! Let this be a lesson to me! Anyone got a dunce cap. If the dumb thing doesn't grow I'll complain!

Carla

I'm with the no-HT crew. I have a couple (Heirloom included, which would be taking a ride on the shovel if it wasn't a nice smelly winter bloomer.) I love floribundaa. To me the bushes are nicer, they produce tons and are easier. I have some Austins and a couple of HT's for cut blooms. But mainly the bushes are just too ugly for me and the effort too much for a single bloom on the end of a long bare stick. Just my opinion of course.
Nancy

Cutting the blooms helps them rebloom faster along with miracle-gro. Try Perfume Delight.

Hybrid teas do not need perfect conditions nor are they demanding.I never paid any attention to roses or any other flowers before I retired to Fl.[Trees yes-flowers no.]
I still don't know diddly squat about roses but it was obvious some here do[and others don't] so I zoomed in on the good advice and politely ignored the not needed.
You are growing roses,not making soil.
Forget the coffee grounds,the mulch,compost,tea drinks,yadda yadda yadda and give the roses what they need.A booster shot [simple as a time release or even 10-10-10]water and a good preventive fungiciding.
Sand is fine,
oh by the way I have a truly awesome Lemon Spice.
I am not bragging,just saying that roses are easy to grow unless YOU insist on making it difficult.

In the event 'Incense Indigo' doesn't perform well for you, please don't use that experience as a barometer of your success with HTs in general. I've had it only since last spring, so the jury's still out; thus far, however, I'm very unimpressed with this rose. Flowering was pretty good, but the blossoms are small, lack substance, and don't last very long. Altho II is registered as a mauve, it's not (it's kind of a boring shade of magenta). The spring blooms had a powerful fragrance which, alas, disappeared completely as the summer progressed. The foliage is small, dull and sparse. If things don't improve a LOT with this rose next season it's a goner.

Another rose by the same hybridizer (Viru Viraraghavan) that performed exceedingly well for me in its first year is 'Southern Sunset'. I've not yet formed much of an opinion of 'Naga Belle' (the 3rd Viru I got last spring).

Pete, just because HT's grow well for you, you cannot hold a general concept that all HT's do well for other zones, people, soil, etc. Do you sweet talk yours or give them fish excretions. I will match any HT you have with a beautiful Tea anyday of the week.
Frankly my dear I'm tired of looking at their bare legs.

Carla

Hey Pete, not all roses are easy to grow, like you state.
It depends on the variety and where you live. Of all the
roses out there, hybrid-teas are the most demanding. If
they don't have full sun and get fed often, they can have
problems. Other kinds of roses tend to be more flexible
with amount of sunlight and fertilizing. Keep working on
knowing some diddley, Pete.

There are two essentials for HT success here:

1. Spraying is a must. Based on a schedule, not how the plant looks. Once the black spot starts, the roses look like $#!+ for the rest of the season.

2. Patience. Most of mine took 3 years or more before they really performed.

Spray,feed,water
I grow roses because they are easy to grow-period.
Orchids wupped me,many other things whose names I have forgotten or never knew,whupped me.
I am not a gardener at heart,just a simple man without a plan but I did take the time to study fertilizers.
Guess what -there are NO organic Ones.
Anyway I hope you'all realize I am taking this in a light headed way so don't get mad.
Seriously,I do feel that not sticking to the basics and attaching mystique to roses are the two biggest problems other than not living in Florida.[no jbs]

Oh, nobody is mad at you Pete. Don't be so touchy!
You just seem to always be on a very high horse.

I guess I side with Pete on this. I work full time, have two children 10 or younger, and 2 in college (they sometimes are more work than the younger ones!), and I have no problems with the HT's I have. If they do not perform well for me after a few years, out they go. Weekly spray, watering and fertilizing seems to do wonders for all of the roses. My only complaint with my HT's is that I cannot get them to bloom from mid November thru mid May!

joking-I was laughing all the way.
Grew up on a racetrack but prefer bikes,

Mike, I didn't know you had 4! And you took the time for my Ripples cutting! How many HTs do you have?

Anyway Go Tigers! I hope you take the wild card. Sorry, Pete.

I guess I side with Pete also on this subject. I grow only 4 HTs (I love their blooms), and I don't see that they need more work than most of my Austins, hybrid musks, and other shrub roses--except that the HTs have to be sprayed more often. But then, I rarely spray most of my roses, so even the HTs get only several sprays in the spring and fall. I'm sure in some regions, much more spraying is required. Other than that, feed and water. I do give all my roses side dressings of manure and alfalfa a couple times a year. Oh, and plenty of sun.

I was lamenting not too long ago that my HTs didn't look as big and full and bloomiferous as diggerdaves. After forcing me to drool through pic after pic of gorgeous blooming HTs, he did confess that he has had many of them for quite a number of years--which partly accounts for why they are bigger and fuller than my relatively new ones. I am now resigned to waiting a few more years to get HTs like his. (Watch out--that's dave's cue to appear with gorgeous pics!)

The only rose I have that gets real leggy is the grandiflora Love & Peace--but it's knees are covered by the plants growing in front of it, so I don't worry about it.

Don't know about your selected rose, Carla, but hey, go for it. Just don't expect instant miracles with your new HT.

Kate

And you know, I know alot of people like hybrid-teas,
but most need proper spraying. I don't spray and so
they don't work for me. I have other kinds of roses
that do not require spraying and do just fine. Hybrid-
teas almost always require spraying among so many
other needs and that's why I call them demanding,
compared to other roses. Maybe I'm a bit lazy for
them.

Besides, they are only good for a cutting garden area
because the bush is ugly. There are exceptions to the
rule. And one I will try is the McCartney Rose because
I hear about it leafing almost down to the bottom of the
bush and it's disease resistance, as well as that nice
color and fragrance.

I am going to give my Incense Indigo a good try. I'm not a committed sprayer. I do not like to spray when it is 80 degrees at 9am with 90% humidity. Stay tuned next year.
Actually I thought about getting some on Fortunaina(sp). Haven't decided yet.
Let's play nice everyone.

Carla

Kate, I think we all strive to have roses like Digger and Deb. It's a high bar.
Nancy
PS. OK Dave, we're ready, bring on your lovely pics.

Redsox,
I have around 250+ HT's right now. Yes, I have 4 kids ranging from 27 to 7. My 27 year old just got out of the Navy last year, and I finally convinced him to get his butt into college. I also have a 22 year old in pharmacy school. They tend to bleed me dry! Yea, go Tigers, but it would have helped if you guys could have taken at least two from NY!

I started with HTs because I didn't know any better. Pete and harry is right. Most must be sprayed regularly or they will not do well. You can prune them to be bushier if you like that look.

In fact, I've had Peace 5 years and this is the first year I've had many blooms on it. I wouldn't get another one, but I will not sp it. I would get another Double Delight without question.

What it really boils down to is, you grow what you REALLY want to grow. I like roses of ALL types. HT's, Climbers, Austins, other shrubs, Ogr's, Poly's, Mini-floras, Mini's. I like them all. So I will do whatever I need to do to have good looking bushs. I spend about three hours every week in the garden doing whatever ( spray, feed, deadhead, water ). I've been growing roses here in FL. since the mid 1970's and have always had a garden of of around 80 to 100 bushs. Have raised 4 children, 1 grandchild untill he was eight and worked in construction (drywall) all the while. Growing between 20 and 40 HT's has been MY choice. You grow what you really want to grow.

I visited the Lyndale Park Rose Garden at Lake Harriet in South Minneapolis over the weekend. The garden is full of row after row of HT. I must say I was not very impressed. The foliage was full of black spot although their web site claims the roses are sprayed weekly. Maybe it was the layout or maybe I should have visited during the spring, but the roses just seemed unattractive and boring to me.

HTs do not have to be grown in a separate bed and in straight rows. That is a design issue, not a rose issue.

My 4 HTs are in a mixed bed--all sorts of plants (iris, geraniums, black-eyed Susans, daisies, daylilies, etc.), as well as other kinds of roses in there--from rugosas to Austins to climbers to minis and others. I like variety in size, shape, texture, etc.

Kate

It is your own fault... I just did a search for digger to remind me of threads to check.... didn't understand why this thread was listed :) How about an ugly photo?
{{gwi:326116}}
I'll be tearing that shack down this winter. The owner finally needs $ enough to come down to my price :) I thought those HTs look pretty good. I was just taking it to show that Oklahoma Jr (the broken cane I stuck in the ground as a joke in 2004) had caught up with Oklahoma. I wanted pics of the foliage before all the buds open too... if cold weather will hold off a couple weeks. That row includes:
Oklahoma 3 years (4th season if you count the year I stuck it in the ground and forgot it)
Oklahoma 10 years
Summer Dream 21
Heirloom 12
Lucy 14
Chrysler Imperial 15 (1st rose we planted here)
Brandy 12
Tropicana 14
Tournament of Roses 8
Garden Party 10
Ingrid Bergman 10
Gemini 7

I don't think they are ugly. Reckon beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Haven't had time to upload many pics from this year. I liked this one of Heirloom Deb took from the driveway of that shack. (Lucy is just to the right of Heirloom - can't upload the pics of both... don't want to cause any strokes - LOL)
{{gwi:326117}}
What is the ugly part of that??? I know... I'm vewy, vewy bad
{{gwi:324712}}
Have to admit I believe in the KISS method of growing roses. I do have to spray twice a week... with water. We just give roses time to get established. 5 years is the rough schedule I give the new ones to start performing well. Pascali is across the drive from Oklahoma and this is the 5th season for it.
{{gwi:326118}}
Pascali finally decided it likes it here. Uncle Joe was pretty humble for 6 years.
{{gwi:326119}}
For a while there I was almost backing over our mailbox when I would back out of the driveway and see Uncle Joe in the rearview mirror. OK, OK, I'll stop already :)

With respect to others top thread, Florida is a challenging place to grow hybrid teas, with the stifling humidity, hurricanes and whatnot.

However, if you understand at the get go that hybrid teas require different care than the older plant - and -forget 'em roses, they can be very beautiful.

The OP didn't say whether she sprays fungicides or not, but here at least, HT's need to be sprayed regularly to do well. Regularly like clockwork.

If it makes you feel any better, I have a year old own root Lemon Spice that is struggling somewhat and I do spray. perhap it needs to be grafted to preform beter.

I think Ken makes a good point, grow what you like. I don't suppose the rose police are checking to see what we are growing. I love floribundas and Austins so that is what I grow. I work very hard in my garden, so it isn't that I'm trying to take the easy road. I even like the challenge. I just prefer those.
As Ehann said, growing roses in Florida is a challenge unless you pick very easy care or old rose varieties. We have heat and humidity that the roses scoff at. For me HT's have bare legs and I don't feel that I can put lower companion plants to cover them or I have even worse bs from the lack of circulation. Of course Pete's garden is the one exception to the rule when it comes to rose growing in Florida. I'm pretty much convinced that Pete works very hard to maintain his lovely roses, is very lucky or has lots of bs (not the fungal kind). We love you anyway Pete.
Digger, I swear every time you post I either want to hang up my trowel or work even harder to have what you do. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Trust me, my Heirloom does not look like that.
Nancy

Dave, I always knew you kept your roses on steriods, LOL.
I am very impressed with your Heirloom! I have to admit that I've never seen an HT look that good. Onward and upward, I still have a few and 2 new HT's.
The Doctor, own roots, thanks to shopping with Patricia
Incense Indigo same
I did not start this as a take sides thing or whatever. I want my HT's to perform better. I'll give them some more time. And I get the KISS method.
Thanks everyone!!!

Carla

Mancozeb and Banner Maxx
recently, the Bayer cause of everyone's comments

You could not be more wrong Nancy-my main interest has switched to phishing.The roses are now an after thought.I have taken the easiest possible way.
Yet the roses are extremely healthy so once more I will say
location
location
location makes the difference.
It is fun to gloat[I didn't admit that] but This just happens to be an easy place to grow roses.
I lived in Montana so I admire Dave and Debs effort.

Wow...good to know that Uncle Joe is slow to establish. He is healthy but without bloom in his first year. After that picture.....Ill wait...

(that is saying a lot from this impatient gardener!!)

Carla--

I do have a few hybrid teas and you know me...NOT spraying.

The ones that do well for me without fuss are:

Granada
Lovers Lane
Lafter
Uncle Joe (no blooms yet but good foliage)
Chrysler Imperial
Hot Cocoa
Double Delight--I know...its luck that this one is good..but she is also new.

Do you have those??

Ronda

I must clarify something. Above, I had said the bush part
of hybrid-teas are ugly. WRONG! I meant hybrid-teas that
are not grown well. Obviously, there are many beautiful
hybrid-teas out there. DAVE and DEB your pictures prove
that! I hope you read this. I don't want to come across
as a rose snob. I'm just a little immature in the way I tend
express myself, sometimes. Hybrid-teas have gorgeous
flowers. And while I don't grow many of them 'cause they
must have full sun, more than other roses and usually must
be sprayed and I don't spray, I do have two bands I bought
this year of Charles de Gaulle. I got them 'cause I really like
lavender roses and most lavender choices are in the hybrid-
tea category. So yes, a well grown hybrid-tea is attractive.
And Dave, your Heirloom is definitely "Out Of This World",
Gorgeous!

Carla, whatever hybrid-tea choice you make, I'm sure you'll
grow it well. You seem like someone who knows what will
work in her garden. And I love all your posts. You always
get so many people involved, including me. Good Luck!!!

Well then Pete, my humble apologies. I will look forward to easy rose growing if we are lucky enough to find jobs in your area. Do you see many folks growing roses there? Here, unless I have given them to my neighbors no one grows them.
Nancy

In the last year I've added a number of Hybrid Teas to the garden. I really like them mixed in with other types of roses; as short bedding roses they are nice accents to the taller shrubs.

Carla, you may have better luck with HTs now that you know about the Bayer disease control. Even regular spraying with regular fungicides did not do the job on the real BS magnets (Peace, Double Delight, Barbra Streisand) that Bayer does.

And once they've been in the ground a few years, don't be afraid to prune them very hard each spring. Down to 3 short canes. They respond very well.