The people in Sangerhausen finally answered my email, apologizing for the delay. I had tried to resume the questions from the forum members in 5 points and these are Mr. Hawel's answers (I translated them as best as I could): "1. Tea roses in Sangerhausen overwinter strictly in the open. Our stock is 99% grafted, so, the grafting spot is covered generously with soil and the parts of the plant still sticking out are protected with fir or spruce brushwood. During the recent, fairly mild winters these measures were sufficient to prevent tea roses from being damaged, but this year temps. dropped to  23°C so there might be some losses. Besides, I have noticed that tea roses tolerated very well the extraordinary heat spells of recent years (e.g. May 2008), reacting with an amazing vegetative growth during those hot periods. This proves that tea roses do not find optimum conditions in our continental climate. 2. In addition to the cultivars that you already mentioned (Lady Hillingdon, Le Vesuve, Duchesse de Brabant, Hermosa) I would probably suggest ÂComtesse de NogheraÂ, ÂClementina CarbonieriÂ, ÂCatherine MermetÂ, ÂFrancis DubreuilÂ, ÂSouvenir de Thérèse Levet and ÂTroja as teas doing fairly well in our climate. The same is true for ÂNiphetosÂ, despite its reputation in literature as a tender tea rose. In general, during harsh winters tea roses here can suffer from bad freezes only to start sprouting nicely right after the spring pruning (often immediately above the grafting point). We are much more worried by the susceptibility to fungal diseases observed in many tea roses. 3. There is a wide range of age in our teas. While the less vigorous cultivars are grafted afresh each year to be substituted in the following year, other cultivars can stay bedded in their spot for over 10 years without requiring any rejuvenating. 4. The information on the Âhelpmefind website has not been officially provided by the Europa-Rosarium. The lists of cultivars shown there have probably been drawn by committed private persons from some of our published rose lists and then inserted by them into the web-page. In this connection IÂd like to say that our notions on many roses are subject to frequent changes, especially teas are rather problematic in this regard. Therefore, we are planning to publish by the summer of 2009 an official rose list that will be directly available from us. 5. The visitors at the Europa-Rosarium have free access to our greenhouse. We keep there a number of roses that would have trouble when grown outside, exposed to our climate."

This past weekend I visited the wonderful Chicago Botanic Garden and I was surprised to see both 'Maman Cochet' (bush form) and 'Old Blush' (bush and climbing forms) among their rose plantings. 'Maman Cochet' still had a bud or two on about six plants, but these plants looked very unhappy indeed--weak, stunted and with only a few lopsided twigs growing above ground. I am not sure if they are winter protected, but it certainly didn't look like it. 'Old Blush' on the other hand, while not the most robust rose I have ever seen, seemed to be doing quite nicely. Several specimens had actually formed decent-sized shrubs over the years about 2.5-3 feet in height and about the same width. The climbing form, planted against a wall, was about twice as large, so was more like a largish shrub rather than a climber. All of the 'Old Blush' specimens, both bush and climbing, still had plenty of buds and few open flowers, which were a darker pink than normal due to the cool autumn temperatures. Fragrance was China-like (kind of like sweet peas) and surprisingly strong, no doubt due to decreased petal transpiration in cool temperatures and cloudy weather. All of these plants had originally come from the Antique Rose Emporium and a few still had the original ARE tags somewhere on the bush. After seeing 'Old Blush' in person near my home, I am considering adding it to my garden in the future. I love the china roses, and 'Old Blush' has that perfect "cottage-y" look I have always loved. And I second (or third) the recommendations for 'Cecile Brunner' and 'Perle d'Or' given above. I planted both this fall and hope they survive the winter. I have grown both in the past and they are exquisite, graceful and extremely fragrant, looking very much like miniature tea roses. I once grew 'Mme Alfrd Carriere' in Michigan near Kalamazoo. It certainly survived and flowered, growing stronger and larger each season. But I was never really happy with it, since it always looked lanky and threw up many flailing ams which never got the chance to branch and become graceful before being winter killed. Fragrance was not very strong in that climate, either. It was also prone to mildew in late summer. YMMV.

Collin, yes, it was a slow grower. Sadly, I do not have SdFG anymore. He left last November to a friend's garden. Last year was a very wet summer here, and I finally saw what balling roses looked like. He grew into a lovely plant, maybe 3-1/2 tall by 5 wide and sort of oblong for some reason - maybe because another rose was tight behind him and the edge of the bed in front of him. Beautiful, dense foliage, not very thorny if I recall. If I had had more room to add some new roses that I wanted, he would still be here. I hope his replacement, Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux, will be worth it. Give him time. I think he didn't start growing UP until his third year. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Jenn that's a smart idea - never would have thought to mix regular and herbal! Will have to try that one. texanjana - not sure I've seen that one locally but will look for the hibiscus/mint combo in another brand if if the Nile Valley isn't available. Sue I am at TJs weekly so will check for the pomegranate white tea for sure. Sounds yummy. Barb I'm trying to LIMIT the calories!!!! Maybe I'll mix the red or berry and lemon zingers without the apple juice - how bad could it be?? Actually sounds good to me. Thanks for the suggestions. Keep 'em coming..... Anyone ever use a lemon ginger tea for icing? I drink it in the winter, especially when I don't feel well so I associate it it with being sick but do like the flavor hot.