'Mme. Berkeley' is one of my five favorite Tea roses, among c. 200 of that class. I love its' shapely blooms, which are medium sized and have those starry pointed edges I love so much. The color varies from a medium rich pink, with salmon and apricot hues, to buff yellow with light pink in our cool climate coastal region. I also grow white 'Maman Cochet' and love its' elegant blooms, which last longer in the vase than a dozen other Tea roses, which I believe may be due to its thicker petal substance. The bush form re-blooms quite a bit faster than the climbing form. Both are healthy plants in my organic rose garden, where temperatures are more often in the 80's than 90's during the bloom season. My neighbor has espaliered her 'Maman Cochet' to a wonderful effect, and I confess I visit her rose more often than her. Lux

There are several very old bushes of Maman Cochet in our neighborhood, surviving in the unkempt yards of old houses. I dug one out of a hedge (only the tip of one cane showing) at the house of some friends of mine, and convinced them to cut back/dig up that end of the hedge. After about 2 years, MC had grown 3 feet wide and 7 feet high, and was covered in gorgeous blooms. My friends were astonished, but I was not - the old roses which have survived decades of no care (and even survived being eaten by hedges!) are VERY hardy (as in tough, not as in temperature). I have a Niles Cochet (another color sport of Maman Cochet) which I got in the neglected (but full of old roses) back yard of a small cottage in our neighborhood. The elderly man who lived there and owned it knocked on our front door with his daughter one day about 20 years ago, and asked for "Lor". That was my FIL's name, and we now live in the house he grew up in. At that point he had been dead for several years. I invited the man in, and he told me that he had moved back into his childhood home (the cottage down the block from our house), and that he had been a childhood friend of my FIL, about 80 years before he knocked on our door! Anyway, he invited me to come look at the roses, and take cuttings of anything I wanted. Here is a bloom of 'Niles Cochet' I got from the bush I have that I rooted from a cutting from a very old bush growing behind that cottage. The Cochet family of roses obviously likes our neighborhood.

Let me explain. My climate is warm to cool from fall to spring when it usually is quite humid (65 to 95% relative humidity depending on weather and time of day). It is warm to hot in the summer (middle of June to end of September) when air humidity is usually low. MC balls all the time from fall to spring while it doesn't in the summer. The problem is it doesn't bloom much during the summer and what blooms I get are small and insignificant. Best blooms are during the cooler seasons but then they mostly ball... In the rare instances when we get some cool and dry weather then its blooms are very nice. But it's rare in my climate. No need for rain, of which we get very little, to ruin MC's blooms. Air humidity and night dew is enough. I guess that in a cool winter desert climate things will be different. My only rose which balls more than MC is Tipsy. But Tipsy blooms nicely during the warmer drier season..

Years ago when I first got on this forum there were posts from a woman who lived in downtown Nashville who had an extensive old rose collection. Old fashion teas seem to dominate her garden. She created a list of disease free roses which I copied and saved and for my first few years of rose growing I used it extensively to select roses since I am just south of Nashville. Unfortunately for me, I underestimated the advantage she was getting from the urban heat island effect giving her an extra zone I didn't have.. Old fashion teas did spectacularly well here for me in terms of blackspot--even better than the modern Kordes. But they just could not withstand the freeze/thaw cycle of early spring. (I'm in an open rural area with no wind protections and am functionally z6 even though I'm officially z7a.) I finally got rid of the last surviving, pitiful teas a couple years ago. I think it is extremely likely that Mlle Franziska Kruger will be clean for you. All though she is not on Jean's list, I'd guess it's just because she didn't grow it. I'd also bet that North Alabama is going to warm enough--especially if you can find a spot with a little wind protection. I can't imagine that 100+ mile south wouldn't give you the same advantage she was getting for urban heat. I say go for it! Here's Jean Harrison's resistant to blackspot list for mostly Antique Roses with teas being the biggest catagory in her Nashville garden. She defined resistance as a rose that didn't lose more than 30% of its leaves. Maybe it can be helpful to someone. Polyanthas: The Fairy Cl. Clotilde Soupert Cl. Cecile Brunner Clotilde Soupert La Marne Gourmet Popcorn Mrs. R.M. Finch Perle dOr Phyllis Bide Hybrid Musks: Excellenz von Schubert Darlow's Enigma Gardindirektor Otto von Linne Shrubs: Carefree Delight Earth Song Pearl Meidiland Carefree Sunshine Belindas Dream Carefree beauty a/k/a/ Katy Road Pink Winter Sunset Prairie Sunrise Knock Out Ramblers: Alberic Barbier Francois Juranville Aviateur Bleuriot Alexander Girault Ayrshire Queen Paul Transon Emily Gray Francois Guillot Chinas: Pink Pet/Caldwell Pink Arethusa Le Vesuve Comtesse du Cayla Bermudas Kathleen Ducher Napoleon Cramoisi Superieur Little White Pet Noisettes: Crepuscule Blush Noisette Souv de Mme. LAdvocat Narrow Water Nastarana Jaune Desprez Reve dOr Duchesse dAuerstadt Alister Stella Gray Lamarque Champneys Pink Cluster William Allen Richardson Secret Garden Musk Teas: Lady Hillingdon Maman Cochet Duchesse de Brabant Baronne Henriette de Snoy Georgetown Lemon White Tea William R. Smith Rosette Delizy Comtesse Festestics Souv. de Pierre Notting Rock Hill Peach Tea La Sylphide Le Pactole Jean Bach Sisley Clementina Carbonieri Etoile de Lyon Mme. Maurin Alliance Franco-Russe Mrs. Dudley Cross Monsieur Tillier Mme. Joseph Schwartz Georgetown Tea Hermosa Isabella Sprunt Mrs. B.R. Cant Lorraine Lee Enchantresse J.E. Murphy's Pink Tea Angel Camp Tea Puerto Rico Safrano Mme. Antoine Rebe Mme. Berkeley Marie van Houtte Triomphe de Luxembourg Rhodologue Jules Graveraux Smiths Parish Cels Multiflora Humes Blush Souv. dun Ami Miss Caroline Thomasville Old Gold Duke of York Niles Cochet Mme. Antoine Marie Mme. Lombard Rubens Irene Bonnet Mme. Camille Paul Nabonnand Mme. de la Sombreuil Isabelle Nabonnand Devoniensis Hybrid Teas: Eva de Grossouvre Radiance Red Radiance Careless Love Maman Lyly Lady Ursula Climbers: Awakening Clair Matin Cl. Lady Waterlow Westerland Autumn Sunset New Dawn Floribundas: Strawberry Ice a/k/a Bordure Rose Bourbons: Souv. de la Malmaison Mystic Beauty Kronprincessin Viktoria Souv. de St. Anne a/k/a Miss Abbot