Hear, hear, Sherry: keep up the good work!

When I first moved to Italy back in 2000, one of the things I was looking forward to was the possibility of growing Tea roses. I had become mightily intrigued with them in Olympia (Washington, not Greece) but had no room and particularly no really warm and sunny spot in my yard where they might have a chance of growing well, so had to renounce them. Then I began growing them in Brescia province, with a first shipment from Peter Beales (descendants of which are still thriving in the garden), and have never looked back. I don't know how many Teas I have, but there are a lot them, and they're not enough.

Spreading the word here in Italy is important, because even the more informed gardeners in this country often don't know there are such a thing as Tea roses. "Tè" is used indifferently to refer to Hybrid Teas and to Teas. About three years ago I wrote a post on the Italian gardening forum I frequent, defining and describing Tea roses and explaining the difference between Teas and Hybrid Teas. At least one good gardening friend was enlightened and converted, and is now giving me cuttings from the Teas she too is now searching for and buying.

You would think Teas would find their natural home in Italy, and I suppose some have always been around, for example 'Général Shablikine', which I understand is an old Riviera rose, traditionally grown for the cut flower trade. I'm not sure why Teas are so rare. (Though they do have their admirers, and are becoming available in greater variety through Italian nurseries.) Possibly they're too big and a little too wild for gardens in this country, which tend toward a stodgy formality; or, when they do aim for greater freedom, look toward English models: the English roses and English gardening style are very popular here. I don't know.

Anyway, I aim to keep on growing Teas as long as I draw breath, and hope that Italian gardening fashion will in time catch up. My handful of Italian gardening friends are all great admirers of these grand roses.

Melissa

Melissa, maybe I'll have to move to Italy so I can grow teas too... it's been one of my biggest aggravations of moving here, having to leave most of my teas. But I'm hopeful for the few I have! "too big and a little too wild..." it's what I love best about them. Well, that and the fragrance and the blooms and their fierce spirits.

I have two (le Vesuve and Mme. Antoine Mari, both puny still) and a few half ones (early HTs like Caroline Testout or Mrs. Herbert Stevens), mostly for the amusement though, since I am not really in tea friendly climate. :)

According to my data base I have 67 different Teas (some climbing). Some may have perished and some may have not been included yet. I hope they do well for me.

Robert

I am currently growing Clementina Carbonieri, Devonionsis, Enchantress, G Nabonnand, Lady Hillingdon, Mme Lambard, Rock Hill Peach Tea, and Westside Road Cream. I have ordered Arcadia Louisiana Tea, Princesse de Sagan, Souv de Therese Lovet, Second St Tea, Thomasville Old Gold, Mrs Foley-Hobbs and Victor Velliadan some of which won't arrive til March 2011.

Bob

I also just planted my very first tea rose Duchesse de Brabant. I really would love to have more, but they say tea roses grow huge in here and I just have no space :( I started thinking about my front yard recently. There is too much grass there ...

I grow several teas at home and we have many in the Sacramento cemetery. Mlle de Sombreuil is one of the nicest of our newer acquisitions. Lady Roberts is my favorite, and I plan to plant it at home (where, oh where, is the issue).

And yes, we are propagating Lady Roberts for next year's sale - hope that we are successful!
Anita

I fell totally in love with teas roses accidently when I planted Mme Joseph Schwartz several years ago, not really knowing she was a TEA rose. After about 3 years in the ground, she suddenly started blooming and blooming exquisite, scented roses. I was a goner after that and have planted as many (and more) tea roses I have room for in my suburban Phoenix garden. I have:

Mme Joseph Schwartz
Maman Cochet: exquisite
Niphetos: great in the heat
Devonensis: is small but growing and I pamper and hover over it
La Sylphide: beautiful, delicate blooms
Mrs Dudley Cross: young but lovely
Le Veseuve: young but promising
Duchesse De Brabant
Souv de Pierre NOtting; young but beautiful foliage
Mme F Kruger: nice bush; love the blooms
Catherine Mermet: I love her color
Rosette Delizy: young; has not bloomed much yet

I have more since I love love love tea roses. I have gotten my mother to plant several in her garden also and will tell anyone that will listen about them!

yep, i felt nagged enough to try at least one (DdB, and now hovering over Jean Ducher) Jury still out though. What I REALLY want to grow is basic R.Gigantea or a beauty such as Belle Portugaise - fat chance of that in East Anglias icy winter winds (direct from Siberia, as we are constantly reminded - Elemire gets a dose too).

OK - I usually lurk, but here is the list of the teas I grow here in piedmont NC:
Lady Hillingdon
LeVesuve
Devoniensis
Mrs. Dudley Cross
Francis Dubrieul
Madame Antoine M.
Duchess de Brabant
Rosette Delizy
Mme. F. Kruger
and maybe a couple more that I can't think of at the moment. I did have a few more that I got rid of like Mrs. B.R. Cant. I loved her, but she REALLY outgrew her position. Maybe one day I will find another place for her.
Denise

Yes! No Cal is the perfect climate for tea roses - they are the most trouble free of all of the types of roses in my garden. We have:

Le Vesuve
Anna Olivier
Duchesse de Brabant
Safrano
Dr. Joseph Schwartz
Rosette Delizy
NIles Cochet
Lady Hillingdon
Mme Alfred Carriere (tea noisette)
at least 3 others whose name I can't recall at the moment

The best part is that of the list above, the first 5 were growing in our garden already 22 years ago when we moved in, and I suspect the first 3 on the list are plants that are at least 80-90 years old! Proof that they like this climate! Also, I rooted the Niles Cochet from an ancient plant that was in a neglected 100 year old garden about a block away from here.

Jackie

I love tea roses!

& they love it here in north central Texas (DFW area).

I have:

Safrano
Monsieur Tillier
Mrs. Dudley Cross
Lady Hillingdon

Mine are quite young, so I'm very interested in seeing how they mature.

I grow Teas rather well in east Tennessee where they have survived true zone 6b winters better than their more recent wimpy offspring.

I grow them in spite of having been told by very important and well known exhibitors of modern roses in the Tenarky District of the ARS (who live in zone 7b) that we can't grow Teas in Tennessee.

HERE!!! I only have one, because I have only a balcony with room and sun for three roses, and that one is the biggest - that one Tea is (wait for it, Sherry)..... Mlle. Jeanne Phillipe! She is doing quite well, looking pretty and graceful and covered with buds. I guess she is just a California Girl, like me. She reminds me of you, though, and how we both bought her from the VG Unloved Roses Sale. She turned out not to be a Florida Girl (blackspot, as I recall), but you have SO MANY glorious Teas that I know you have no regrets!
Even though I can only have the one Tea, let it be known that if I had a real yard, I would fill it with them. I do my best to tell the world about them, and I put in a morning once a week at the Sacramento Old Cemetery Historic Rose Garden as a volunteer, deadheading, etc.

Laura

I love tea roses and have many. I'd have many more if I had room. I'm always on the search for smaller tea roses.

To support the expansion of growing teas (and other OGRs) I went to a local nursery and proposed a list of disease resistant, mostly fragrant, old garden roses. They acted liked they liked the idea but I've not seen any of these roses in their greenhouse but I can keep hoping.

It is nice to see so many of us. Thanks for the great thread.

Anita,

That Lady Roberts is spectacular! Is it strongly scented?

No matter... she's already on my list.

Veronica

Here is a link that might be useful: Lady Roberts

Sherry, here is my list:

Le Vesuve
Alexander Hill Gray
Mrs. B.R. Cant
Mrs Dudley Cross
Safrano
M. Tillier
Maman Cochet
Georgetown Tea
Anna Olivier
Miss Caroline
Madame Lombard
Maitland White

I am also a tea lover. This year I dabbled in a few. They are planted with southern protected exposure and so far are doing amazingly well especially Big Mac. I'm not quite certain how they will survive a PNW winter so I only dabbled. If they survive and thrive I'll certainly plant some more next spring.
The ones that I have are: Mme. Alfred Carrier, Le Vesuve, Lady Hillingdon, and Isabella Sprunt. The plan is to protect them with hay and earth.
Here's hoping.
Jeannie

Count me in. It took several tries to get an accurate count, but I believe I have 20 different teas, including the Florence Bower's Pink Tea that is on order and 4 different tea-noisettes. Teas, needless to say, do very well here!

Very good, there's 29 of us so far, and I'm especially buoyed by your zeal. Pretty breathtaking. Alas, I was hoping for more of us. Maybe more will post on the weekend.

Hoovb, that's a great point - easy care, plant and forget!
Melissa, Elemire & Suzy (the brave one), spreading the tea word around the world and Bob in Hawaii on the other side of the world. Bob, don't you love Arcadia La Tea?
Gean and Jeannie, you need to compare notes on winter protection - and maybe invest in some sunlamps! Robert, I'm hoping with you that lots of them will still be there next spring. Ann in TN, have you ever posted which teas you have surviving in z6b?
Anita, I saw that photo of Lady Roberts. Wow!! She's worth finding a spot for. And Veronica, maybe you can be a telephone bidder for her at the sale.
Denise, we're always trying to squeeze in one more, maybe two.
Jackie, you must be the proud owner of the oldest teas on the planet! Must be the great climate that you and Catspa enjoy.
Laura, Rgvmom & Jaspermplants, a love affair with teas always starts with the first rose.
Sylvia & Holley, I know there are bunches of teas grown in Texas. They do get better with age.
Gardenatlanta, keep hoping and keep prodding that nursery.
Clair, hurray! a Floridian!! That's a good list. They're so familiar that they seem like names of family members.

I guess I should list mine, too.

Anna Olivier
Arcadia Louisiana Tea
Duchesse de Brabant
Duquesa
E Veyrat Hermanos
Enchantress
Faith Whittlesey
General Gallieni
General Schablikine
LaSylphide
Le Vesuve
Mme Antoine Mari
Mme Antoine Rebe
Mme Lombard
Maman Cochet
Climbing Maman Cochet
Mrs B R Cant
Niles Cochet
Rose Nabonnand (?)
Rosette Delizy
Souv de Francois Gaulain
Souv de Pierre Notting
White Maman Cochet
Climbing White Maman Cochet
Jaune Desprez
Lamarque

Sherry

If I haven't left any out, and not counting the three I have ordered but haven't received, I believe I grow 14. They are:

Miss Atwood
Licorice Tea
Souv. d'Elise Vardon
Souv. d'un Ami
McClinton Tea
Rival de Paestrum
Madame Antoine Mari
Monsieur Tillier
Gilbert Nabonnand
Alliance Franco-Russe
Thomasville Old Gold
Marie d'Orleans
Clementina Carbonieri
La Sylphide (labeled as, but I believe it is really Spice)

hi Sherry

:You know, in the UK, we really have been given no information about teas. Check out DAs catalogue, for example and apart from Lady Hillingdon, there are NO tea roses. In fact, the only reliable source is Peter Beales or Trevor White's nursey (both, encouragingly, in my neck of the woods). Apart from them, there is an almost universal belief that by tea, we really mean hybrid tea unless we grow under glass (where we might be persuaded to have a go at Marechal Niel, Niphetos or Devoniensis). What I do love about teas are the understated translucence of their colours but because they are not going to reach the huge sizes they do for you sunbirds, they do need very careful placement. My gardens tend to be rambling, very lush and green with vastly overstuffed plantings (layers and layers, falling over each other since I MUST have this and that) so the delicacy and subtlety of tea roses can just disappear. I intend to give them a west-facing area at my allotment where they can be planted with grasses (miscanthus/elephant grass and golden oats)and a couple of other tall and airy flowers so that there is no formality but a lot of movement and the evening sun can backlight the border. This could be the start of a new craze for me and gets my gardening brain quivering with eager delight. Like discovering a really great author with a huge back catalogue. Mmmm

I love the tea roses but sadly it is too cold here in Pa.I tried to grow Lady Hillingdon but she did not survive.

If I were younger and stronger I would try to give them the special care they would need in my zone

Thankfully I can come to GW and enjoy all the pictures I see.

Florence

I love tea roses. And my 2 little girls do, too. Whenever we have anyone visit, my 7 yo introduces our "friends:" "This is Mrs. BR Cant, Gilbert Nabonnand, and..." So cute! People think we've named our plants. haha. I'm glad my daughters are showing interest in roses, and they know the names and classes of the roses in our yard. They saw a clothing catalog the other day, where the model was holding a bouquet, and one of them said, "Hey, that rose looks like a Mme Berard!"

I remember when I first came on GW and thought a HT was a Tea. LOL.

I now have over a dozen and a couple more still in pots. 2 years ago I started a new 'tea' bed. This year it has really taken off and just today I noticed some really beautiful blooms on Lady Hillingdon. This is my 3rd LH, the first two didn't make it. But I think this one will. I just love teas and as I live in the south, they are perfect for my yard.

My climate, as noted above, is not all that tea friendly, but I did have Cl. White Maman Cochet in my last garden.

It's not that our winters are too cold - they're not (I never gave Maman any winter protection and never had any winter kill). It's our summers that are the problem. As in, 'What summer?' This 'summer' was mostly in the 50s and 60s except for scattered 1- or 2-day scorchers in the 90s. I've had people tell me they had the heat on in their house at least one day every month of 'summer' this year. Average summer daytime temps are generally in the mid 70s.

Tea roses need more heat than we get for best growth and flowering, but they do generally get enough for some growth and flowering. My Maman did get quite large, and bloomed very well. Although she was very definitely all pink with no trace of white. The other problem here though is the petals have little substance, and ball and rot with the slightest bit of rain, so the spring flush if there is one all rots away, and ditto for the fall bloom.

So they're not quite as wonderful here as in warmer drier places like NorCal or TX or FL but they still do nicely here in rainy western Washington! Seattle and Tacoma are a bit warmer and drier than Olympia and I do hear of people growing teas there.

Maman Cochet seems to be very popular - I see her in most of the above lists.

Yep, I grow Teas, too! Not that many, not for a long time and I have to admit with mixed results, but I do:

Angels Camp Tea
Devoniensis, Climbing
Le Vesuve
Madame Melanie Willermoz (since yesterday, thanks to a generous gift from Ingrid :-)!)
Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux
Georgetown Tea
Mme. Alfred Carriere (Tea Noisette, does she count, too?)

I think there are at least two reasons why Tea roses are not more widely grown. One is that most of them don't produce good, lasting cut flowers. They don't work very well for a rose exhibitor and these are the people, who generally dominate rose societies and form opinions about what roses should be grown in the public (at least this my impression of what is going on at the San Diego Rose Society).

The second reason might be that I feel that the full beauty of a Tea rose can only be perceived when you see the whole bush in person. I happen to find that Tea rose bushes are harder to photograph and it is more difficult to capture their beauty than the bushes of the other rose classes. So I assume that people are not so inclined to buy a Tea rose first of all because they hardly see any and even when they have the rare opportunity to see a Tea rose at least on a photo it is not that convincing. Just my opinion of course...

Sherry (another great post by the way), I like your idea of propagating Tea roses and giving them away to friends and neighbors and that way to contribute to their spreading. I also think it would help to plant a beautiful specimen of a Tea rose in the front yard for anyone to be seen!

Christina

Plantloverkat, you have the rest of my dream list of roses that I'll never have. Lots of good ones.

Suzy, your excitement is exciting! I was on Trevor White's and Beales' sites last night. Didn't see any teas on TW's. Beales had quite a few. Interestingly, some said "for warmer climates" but others didn't say that as if to indicate they'd be OK. DdB was described as "hardy". I also found out last night while surfing that Montisfont (the only English rose garden I'm familiar with) is south of you (in fact, about as far south as there is in the UK), and they grow teas, I believe. Is the climate there very different from yours in Cambridge? One thing I noticed on the Beales site was how red Papa Gontier's color is in their photo. I didn't remember it being so dark red. So I checked on HMF and found no blooms of that color. My conclusion was (if the Beales photo was accurate) that your cooler temps give you the deeper red. It was lovely. I wish you the best with your teas.

Yeah, Buford, we were all dumb once. Teas do take a long time to develop (and maybe other classes do, too). I'm sure we'd all love to see your tea bed in photos. :))

Florence, so you're a zone-pusher, huh?

ndkk, how cool that your daughters have learned the rose names so well (young brains!) and relate to them so much in their other experiences. You're creating a wonderful gardening legacy. I'm impressed. You must make it fun and interesting for them.

Reg, would you say that your White MC had more substance than other tea roses you have tried? That may be a good indicator for success in your area. I have that rose and other Cochets, and I would say they do have more substance than some others.

Christina, I was just having that discussion with my DH - how to take better bush photos. I think the problem is with the basic point & shoot digital cameras. They do not give you enough detail (resolution) to be able to see much more than blobs for flowers, especially with light colored roses. I do think some teas make beautiful bushes. Other shapes I'm not too fond of. And you're right about the exhibitors, but you'd think they'd want to have roses in their landscape as well as their cutting garden. I'm not big into cutting flowers and bringing them inside - yet. Maybe next spring. But I love seeing them on the bush. Really thrilling.

Sherry

I grow Teas here in MD. I love them, they can survive our winters w/o issues if kept healthy. The main thing is to keep them from BS. I tried about a dozen of different varieties, nothing fancy, Lady Hillingdon, Mrs BR Cant, MAM, Duchess de Brabant, Safrano, Georgetown tea, Mme Berkeley, etc.
I also love and grow Chinas.
Olga

I just had to jump in again to say teas are SPECTACULAR in the fall.

I don't have any teas yet, but plan to buy at least 1 in the spring. I need something small since it will be in a container like the rest of my roses.

Darlene

Count me in. I grow:
Safrano
Maman Cochet
Mrs. B. R. Cant
D. de Brabant
Marie van Houtte
Bermuda's Anna Olivier
Rubens
Angel's Camp Tea
Fun Jwan Lo
Comtesse Rizu du Parc
Alexander Hill Gray
Mme. Charles
Mme. Antoine Mari
Mlle. Franziska Kruger
Gen. Schablikine
Mrs. Dudley Cross
Bon Silene
Le Vesuve
M. Tillier
Mme. Joseph Schwartz
Rosette Delizy
Maitland White
Lamarque

I've probably omitted a few.

Shery, you write so eloquently and straight from the heart.

I planted my first tea this year--Mme Antoine Mari. I "blame" this forum for my interest in teas!
drudad: Mme Antoine Mari is supposed to be a smaller tea. Mine is in a container, for now.

I live in SoCal and I have 3 Tea-Noisettes (Maman Cochet cl, Madame Alfred Carriere, Gloire de Dijon) and 2 proper teas.
My proper teas are Mme. Lambard and Tipsy Imperial Concubine.
I could see myself getting maybe one more tea if some of my other roses don't do as well. ... actually, to be fair, I think I will probably get E Veyrat Hermanos even though I don't really know exactly where I'll get him, he's that gorgeous to me (even though he "finishes poorly".) I also pine for Mrs. B. R. Cant, William R Smith and Mrs. Dudley Cross, but I just don't have room for them right now.

I actually really love what I've seen of teas, in books and in person. (Yes, I have that book, too, Sherry!) but most of them get really large, so I don't have as much room for them (my yard is relatively small).

But like you said, about how "most folks" grow HTs and moderns on rootstock... 95% of the roses I have are David Austins, old ownroot HTs, and old roses of various classes. I don't have hardly any modern HTs and no modern HTs on rootstock. I don't think I've bought a single rose from a big box store or even my local nursery. I buy all of them online.

I wish I'd had time to stay for some of the rooting lectures at the San Jose Heritage garden a couple weeks ago. I'd like to learn more about rooting plants. I'm just very newbie-ish right now and I don't think I could keep it alive yet. haha. :)

I think the first step towards getting more information out there, besides forums such as this and talks at rose gardens, would be to organize an informative talk at your local rose society. Maybe even make a slideshow with your best rose photos, showing them how lovely they can be and encouraging them about the positive aspects of older roses. Because people in that rose society are already "really" into roses, they're your target audience. They love roses enough to go to club meetings. They'd probably be open to learning about other roses if you presented it well.
Also, organizing a plant sale, like they did at the SJ Heritage, conjoined with a talk, would probably encourage them, in the heat of the moment, to take some home with them.

An article for the newspaper would be really nice, too. :)

you could even do a talk at a local library, showing a selection of your favorite rose books and talking about it, etc....

When my friends have gardens, I gush on them about roses and try to encourage them to try some older roses. I took a friend of mine for free on my membership pass to Huntington to look at roses,... but she mostly liked the multicolored modern HTs, ah well, everyone has different taste.

as to taking photos of pale roses, you have to turn your white balance down, if you can. Sometimes the leaves appear a bit too dark, but at least you can see the roses. :)

In the past I've ended up shovel-pruning the few I had because they didn't perform for me. Can't smell the tea fragrance most of the time either.

However! Enabled into trying Mrs. B. R. Cant and Duchesse de Brabant this year and they have been GREAT! And I can smell Duchesse de Brabant (I think it was Randy that said I might be able to find that one fragrant). If they survive this winter, I will be trying many more.

I do have Madame A. C. and Lamarque also if they get to qualify.

rootygirl,
My seven year old 'Mme. Antoine Mari' had a growth spurt this year and is currently about 6'x9'. This plant is in a position she likes, gets pruned every spring after getting squashed by the winter snows, and is not pampered. In other words, a smaller Tea she is not. But, oh what a beauty.
Melissa

Aimeekitty, if you are ever up in Sacramento, the Historic Rose Garden at the Old City Cemetery does a really good workshop in propagation. If you go to their website (www.cemeteryrose.org) and click on "Events", you could find out when they usually give it. Actually, I should KNOW this, as I volunteer there, but I'm so tired this afternoon, I should not even be posting, or trying to make an intelligible sentence! Anyway, although I have absolutely NO place to put cuttings (or no place where they would be at all happy), I went to one of the propagation workshops - Janelle and Kathryn did the honors - and it was so fascinating that I wanted to just rush home and try it! They made it all so easy to understand. I know that the last one they gave also had people getting "hands-on" experience during the workshop, which of course would be extremely helpful! Think about it!
Laura

I have

Safrano
Rosetty Delizy
Creekside Manor Tea
Smith's Parish
Mrs. B. R. Cant (Was 8", now after 1 yr, she's 6" -- I hear she'll get bigger. Hope she'll like it.)

Used to have

Rival de Paestum
Beaute Inconstante

Mike

Mike, Mrs BR Cant used to be 8 inches tall?? and is now 6 inches tall?? Or was that a typo??

Sherry

Here. I collect them, but mostly it's the yellows and creams. They are my favorites, bar none. I started out with a few of each kind, but it's the teas that stay healthy and blooming from spring till frost. I love how they are bushy and full all the way to the ground. But when other gardeners come visit they like that I grow them maintenance free, but never seen interested in where I get them or how they could get some. Oh well.

I'm here and planning to stay! Have about 25 OGRs and am just trying to get more beds in place for more! Just wish my neighbors would get interested in some sort of landscaping, even if not roses. Dallas is famous for bare backyards with just grass (or weeds), an air conditioner, a wood fence that falls down in 10 years in the winds we get and not a plant or bush in sight. That's not to say there isn't some absolutely beautiful landscaping in some of the upper income neighborhoods.

I thought Dallas was famous for azaleas:-). I saw a lot of them in my 2 years there, much better than the ones I can grow here.

I have 13 Teas and Tea-Noisettes, can't fit in any more...

Masha

Laura, It's sept, unfortunately, but I'll definitely pay more attention next year for propagation workshops. I imagine there must be some so-cal ones, too.

I would love to have more but as a Zone 6, I only have a couple:

Duchesse du Brabant
Clementina Carbonieri

I actually have a few more chinas than teas.

you are right, sherry, Trevor White is one of the only nurseries which does grow old roses but, as usual, no teas. Weirdly, Mme BR Cant was bred just down the road from me so they must have expected some success (Cants is in Essex, a county as dry and windy as the rest of East Anglia). They are never going to be the huge monsters you get in S.Cal or Florida but I do think they have an interesting delicacy and am prepared to offer a certain amount of winter protection (horticultural fleece to the rescue again.) Out of all the roses classes, the ones which do make me feel a bit queasy are the HTs and HPs - I have no tolerance for great fat blooms - I want lots and lots of everything with no visible soil anywhere. Afraid to say I utterly disregard suggestions that roses do not like competition - in my gardens, everything is in competition, they just grow a bit slower and shorter.....and I grow everything hard too - no extra food, no extra water, no staking or tying - the plants have to support each other or off they go. I am hoping to get away without windbreaks as I really want the setting sun as an illumination in what will essentially be a trial bed next year. (My whole garden is a trial bed, really, hence the non-picturesque chaos). I will be reporting on results but, i have been to Peter beales gardens and they are sumptuous (although they have statues and that, which isn't for me)

I have never looked to differentiate between my roses , as to exactly what they are, my old mind wouldn't remember anyway.... 'senior moment' stuff. but it sounds like a good idea to do that, I need to make hang-tags and get them out there and it would be a good idea to put the class on the tag, as well as the name... I went so far as to get a label-maker and it stalled there, I saved the cat-food can-tops to put the labels on and now I need to get crackin' on this project and put them all together and get them out onto the rose-stakes......... thanx Sherry for motivating me.... sally

No, it wasn't a typo: 6 inches tall right now, if that. Mrs. B. R. Cant, if that is indeed what it is, is having a hard time. Don't know why. I got it as a band from Ashdown, I think. The leaves have not been many. The main, rooted stem died back, which seems to happen with all the bands I've ever gotten. But the new growth has not yet been as big as the band. The leaves look good, but few. For a few weeks at the end of summer there were no leaves. It's rebounding now a little, three or four stems with leaves. It has never bloomed, so I can't be sure it's the right rose. We had a nice moist winter and spring and most plants loved it, except for a few dry-loving plants. Not sure why it's slow. I hope it will take off next year.

Some Teas growing at Mottisfont, Hampshire:

Mons. Tillier
Abricotee
Triomphe de Luxembourg
Souv. De Francois Gaulain
Souv. D'Auguste Legros
Snowflake
Safrano
Perle des Jardins
Papa Gontier
Mme. Wagram
Mme. Lombard
Mme. De Wattville
Duchesse d'Albe
Anna Olivier
Archiduke Joseph
Paul's Himalayan Rambler
Baronne Henriette de Snoy
Mme. Bravy
Duke of York
Furstin Infantin von Hohenzollern
General Schablikine
Grace Darling
Kathleen Harrop
Marie van Houtte
Mme. Berkley
Adam
Maman Cochet
Maman Cochet White
Belle Lyonnaise
Catherine Mermet
Devoniensis
Etoile de Lyon
Francis Dubreuil
General Gallieni
Gloire de Dijon
Homere
Hume's Blush
Lady Hillingdon
Mme Franziska Kruger
Mme Antoine Mari
Mme Jules Gravereaux
Mrs Foley Hobbs
Parks's Yellow
Rival de Paestum
Sombreuil
Souvenir de Mme Leonie Viennot
Souvenir d'un Ami
William R Smith
Mrs Herbert Stevens
{{gwi:319317}}>
Best wishes
Jon