I would guess most any Tea-like rose would grow nicely in a hot humid cllimate although Teas in general are not fast growers . Typical dry Tea fragrance can be imperceptible to many noses (to my nose Duchess du Brabant has what I would describe a strong, for a Tea, typical Tea scent. It does indeed smell like tea leaves to me) although the more fruity scents tend to be noticeable by many. Disease resistance is the thing to look into. Many Teas are affected by powdery mildew more than I can tolerate but is mildew a problem over there?

If you want fast growth, you'll have to seek budded plants. You might try Burlington Rose Nursery, and request custom-budding.

Teas tend to exemplify "First they creep . . . " Growing Tea Roses on their own roots will teach you patience.

On their own roots, most will grow OUTWARD -- low and spreading -- before they have enough substance to begin to grow upward. And that ground-hugging phase can last 3 years or more. (Perhaps less, with ample water in a very warm climate.) Just this spring, our 'Jesse Hildreth' has begun to reach upward. I think this is its 3rd or 4th spring.

As to disease -- as Nik notes, some Teas will mildew, particularly in their early years. Some outgrow that. Others don't. 'Mme. Lambard' is a mildewer. It has gotten much better about that here, over the years -- but just now something has triggered a real mildew outbreak, and I am very annoyed with the Madame. If he didn't bloom so generously, she would be in big trouble. (See here)

Jeri... just to say, even though we don't grow many Teas here, so not really aimed at us, I found that a most informative post... a thoroughly good read and most reassuring in fact... thank you...

Did you say humid summer heat? I have plenty of that, and a non-Nabonnand Tea that is doing very, very well for me in the SC Lowcountry is 'Souv. de Victor Hugo'. He's very variable in his coloring and shape, and a great bloomer for me here. And he's fragrant, though my nose is unreliable, so I can't always smell the perfume. I have heard that he can ball for some people, so YMMV, but he's putting out a nice second flush now when some other roses are (like me) doing as little as possible... (Probably, a second flush would have been in the works sooner, but he was rewarded for his spring performance with a much larger pot, so had to settle in to his new digs, and put out some new growth first.)

Here's a recent photo; that plummy new growth in the background does belong to him, not some other rose:

Two other Teas that seem to be growing quite well here are 'Baronne Henriette Snoy' and 'M. Tillier', though I can't say much about how they open their flowers since I've been pinching buds off to promote further growth. They are trying to flower, though, so that's a good sign.

The only Nabonnand Tea I have so far is 'General Schabilkine', and I just got him last month, so it's much too soon to say anything useful.

My roses are all own-root so far, but budded Teas may be better for your garden.

Hope this helps,

Virginia

Thanks Marlorena!

Teas that have grown large quickly for me are Mrs. Dudley Cross, Mrs. B.R. Cant, Bon Silene, M. Tillier, and Madame Lombard/Lambard. Madame Lombard went in the ground as a one gallon this past December and is over 4 feet and probably twice as wide. She's a blooming fool, but I don't remember if she smells good. It has been miserably hot and humid here, but she hasn't even thought about taking a break. Her blooms are a little smaller in the heat. These are all own-root teas.

Thanks for the advice everyone, it's so helpful :) Stunning photos too!

I don't seem to have had much of a problem with mildew where I am, it's more black spot. At the moment even Mme Alfred Carriere has it (still flowering though!), although it is pretty much the middle of winter!

I love Archiduc Joseph/M Tillier so I think that's a must have and he's a Nabonnand too. Also tempted by General Gallieni. I've heard that Mrs B R Cant is relatively fast growing and very floriferous. I don't know much about the other Nabonnands like Papa Gontier or Mrs Reynolds Hole. I have Noella Nabonnand already, I'm just worried that it will be too much brick red/bright pink altogether if I go with the Monsieur and a few Generals.

This is pretty much what I have access to:

Tea Roses

If anyone sees anything else tempting on the list then let me know :)

My "Tea" garden is less than a year old. Roses I love and are busy breaking the creep rule: Rosette Delizy, Anna Yung and General Shablikine. Mons Tillier is doing great too.

That's disappointing to hear about Ross Roses, I was going to order from them as they have Octavius Weld and Mistydowns didn't. I've already made an order from Mistydowns this year :) As you said, they just didn't have all the ones I was hoping to get though. I was pretty happy with my Charles Lefebvre from Roses and Friends so perhaps I'll go with them again instead of Ross Roses.

So I think I'll scratch Mrs Reynolds Hole and General Gallieni - perhaps G Nabonnand, M Tillier, Mrs B.R. Cant or Marie van Houtte and Octavius Weld if I can find it elsewhere. Not quite all Nabonnands but a few at least!

Try Reliable Roses at Silvan Victoria, Jean has some great old fashioned roses.

Also try Thomas for Roses in Woodside Sth. Aust

Just to note that if this is really zone 11 in terms of winter temps and a humid subtropical climate, that would mean a 12 month growing season for any rose. Teas might not grow faster but will grow for longer than in my med climate where even Teas take a rest for a couple of months during winter and another month or so during high summer when it's dry unless they are watered continously. In contrary to roses with more european species genes this continous growing and flowering alternation will not wear them out. I only grow budded roses bought bare root and even budded Teas are slow growers over here compared to other roses. Getting a budded plant will give you only one year's advantage really and that is if the plant has been pot grown not bought bare-root, a rare thing with budded roses. They are slow to build structure when bought pruned as with bare-roots.

I am pretty sure it's zone 11 although perhaps I've worked it out incorrectly! Today it was around 6C (43F) at 5am which is pretty cold for Sydney! It got up to 17C (63F) as a maximum and that's the coldest winter day we have had in a long while. The mean annual minimum is 14C (57F) and the mean minimum for our coldest month is around 8C (47F). Have I got the right zone? I just used the chart on the forum home page.

I can buy them grafted pot grown (just more $$$) or grafted bare root, wasn't sure how much advantage a pot-grown one would provide...

One comment about Francis Dubreuil. It is pretty much agreed that the rose sold as FD is actually not that rose at all, but instead an early hybrid tea called Barcelona. No one has been able to confirm an existing FD and it is possible that it has gone extinct. We may hope that it will turn up one day, but it has not done so yet. Anyway, Barcelona is an excellent early hybrid tea, quite disease resistant for that class. Still it is not a tea and I'm not surprised that Titan was disappointed with its performance as a tea.

My experience is limited to my environment in FL. Like Floridaroses, my teas have grown exceptionally fast on own root. Duchesse de Brabant is growing in three places in my garden. The oldest, 3 yrs., DDB is 8ft tall by 7ft wide. Devoniensis shrub is one plant that has been slow to take off. It went into the ground this year and is a leggy 3 ft. Tall x 3ft wide. Most teas start out leggy, but Lady Hillingdon shrub is relatively compact, it is also 3x3 ft tall and wide. So I am guessing that your heat and humidity will make your groses grow faster, and though they may spend the first year building roots, when they do take off, they will grow fast.

This might help, if it works.

Hi Brightstar, which part of Sydney are you in, as it has "micro climates" as well ? I am in Mudgee NSW and fit into 2 zones, 8b/9a. I would think you would be zone 9. As for cost of pot versus bareroot, if you obtain them in pots now they would have been in the pots since last season, selection would be of less than bareroot IMO, where would you be purchasing these in pots from at this time of year ?

And of course, there's Green E at Dural.

I got some nice roses from there earlier this year, Titian.

Ah I didn't realise that the Australian zones were different to the 'International' chart on the Gardenweb homepage. It's certainly a lot warmer than Mudgee here! We are in Drummoyne and our yard is pretty warm, sunny and protected.

Yes I've bought all my potted roses from Green E, in fact over 40 roses in the last 12 months and I'm very happy with all of them. I really enjoy visiting the nursery, the owners are lovely to chat with and provide great advice. It makes for a happy, peaceful afternoon browsing all the potted (and planted) roses!

Yesterday I bought Mr Tillier after seeing some blooms for the first time and also Duchess de Brabant. Couldn't resist a Mme Isaac Pereire either - an unnecessary and irrational purchase but oh well! A large General Schablikine still had loads of beautiful blooms at the nursery but no fragrance at all that I could detect. I think I'll probably get a G Nabonnand next. I still can't find anyone else who has Octavius Weld either...

I'm hoping to go there again soon, if they have Mrs BR Cant. Haven't been for over 4 years, so it will be a treat.

I can't remember seeing Mrs BR Cant yesterday but they have many hidden treasures around the place and I did see most of the other 'common' Teas. I'm a very regular visitor there, I can't wait until Spring!