No rose of any class can beat the roses in these two rose classes, which can bloom early in spring and late in autumn, and bloom continually between, because of genetic reasons; China Tea Unfortunately Tea sounds a lot like Hybrid Tea which causes folks to confuse the two different groups of roses (Hybrid Tea roses can be grown where snow covers the ground for months out of the year, Tea roses thrive in warm climates such as found in California. The rosebushes of each class are very different in appearance. -Hybrid Tea rosebushes tend to have a rather stiff and upright way of growing, sometimes having sparse foliage that shows lengths of cane. Hybrid Tea rosebushes generally have longer flower stems, so they take longer to re-bloom -Tea rosebushes are gloriously covered roses, and well covered with leaves most of the year near San Francisco, California, because they are evergreen plants. Where I live a garden of a dozen or so Tea rosebushes will bloom truly continously (the average rosebush blooms in flushes of between 28 and 35 days then stops blooming for a month or longer before it re-blooms) some folks only notice a rosebush when it is in bloom and therefore think a rosebush continuously blooms, but Tea rosebushes DO bloom without ceasing from early spring through late autumn and into winter. The blossoms of Tea roses are beautiful and lovely, and have a delicacy and grace that has been largely bred out of Ultra- hybridized roses. thats just my opinion. Old Garden Tea roses were originally bred in China from two warm climate roses: Rosa chinensis and Rosa gigantea because of this, Tea rosebushes are evergreen. These are among the most beautiful Tea roses that I've grown and known: apricot 'Lady Hillingdon' I counted more than 101 days of continuous bloom with more than 33% of full bloom. I think it may be the most continually large flowered rosebush in the world, excluding roses of the China class. Lady Hillingdon blooms where I live from mid-March through most of December. Lovely apricot scent. white 'Westside Road Cream Tea' another rapid re-bloomer, to me it is every bit as fragrant as Ducher, but w.r.c.t. is far more resistant to powdery mildew. I don't spray with anything so this is important to me. Far healthier where I live than Devoniensis or Mme. Alfred Carriere. Pink and pink blends. Le Vesuve' a China-Tea is certainly one of the most constant bloomers among the pink Tea type roses. Another great thing about Tea rosebushes is that they bloom all over the bush, from a few centimeters above the ground, or even lying on the ground, all over to the tip- top of the bush. Mme. Berkeley' is my favorite pink Tea rose, and it is the healthiest Tea rose in my garden. Mrs. Dudley Cross' one of my other favorite pink Tea roses. Yellow Tea roses: Etoille de Lyon" has a delicious scent, 'Alexander Hill Gray' is more of a pink edged yellow Tea most of the year in my garden. Orange and/or yellow-red blends if you like more vivid colors orange red blends: Monsieur Tillier' orange and red and Rosette Delizy' a red and gold blend Tea are good choices. Orange blend Tea. sounds like a drink...no wait that's pekoe... Clementina Carbonieri' is as colorful as some Pernetiana roses, has a more rounded shape than most Tea roses, and a more intense fragrance. In partial shade it will be a rich blend of deep peach and gold, with the gold bleeding through (as dye is said to "bleed") through the peach hue. I grow mine in full sun, which keeps the hues from bleeding. Others like my neighbor, prefer the more dramatic color from shading it, and find the bleeding a striking affect. ' Anna Oliver' a lovely hue of peach blended with rose-gold This is to me the most fragrant rose of this class. I like the clone that vintagegardens.com sells rather than the yellow one sold elsewhere. pink, and very large blossomed 'Mrs. B.R. Cant' and Marie Van Houtte' a pink and yellow Tea are also very popular. Comtesse Emmeline de Guigne' is a pretty peach rose in spring that turns totally pink in warmer weather and then back to peach in the cooler autumn weeks. I bought mine from vintagegardens.com Francis Dubreuil' is the most fragrant red Tea.. Dainty Beauties: There are also two half-Tea roses that were bred from a Tea rose crossbred with a Polyantha these are: Perle d'Or" a small flowered peach colored rose, and a rose that has been popular for more than a hundred years, that's how beautiful this rose is, and fragrant! 'Mlle. Cecille Brunner', the Spray form of Cecille Brunner has a longer bloom cycle, but if you dead head the smaller c.5' tall form it will also continuously bloom. helpmefind.com has photos of these roses. vintagegardens.com sells all of these roses, and roguevalleyroses.com and antique rose emporium sell many of these grand Old Tea roses. Best wishes, Luxrosa P.S. China class rosebushes bloom as often, or more than Tea roses but many of the China class blooms have smaller blooms or the petals appear loose, some people like myself, adore them. I'd advise you to look at some photos at helpmefind.com to decide for yourself, my former landlady was dismayed at the sight of 'Mutabilis' when we planted it by the front porch for she was thinking of a H.T. shaped rose bloom when she gave us permission to plant. For good health, in the east Bay of s.f. area, Comtesse du Cayla' is good and Fabvier is the healthiest China locally. Cramoisi Superior is also healthy in a no spray garden in Oakland, Ca. I don't grow 'Mme. Lombard' because it gets too much p.m. for my needs which is the same reason I got rid of 'Ducher' and Georgetown Tea and Angels Camp Tea. (the last was borderline in health and might have developed more resistance to disease, when the bush grew bigger. Tea class rosebushes do this, I believe Jeri Jennings discovered this fact. I do get carried away by my love of Tea roses, didn't think this would be so long. Lux.

Wow! Thanks for all the responses. I'll get some pictures up on the weekend. In the meantime to answer some questions, this is a rose bush in the home we purchased in May. The previous owners were not interested in gardening beyond mowing the lawn. The owner before them is the person who likely planted the rose bush - she lived in the house for nearly 70 years. So with the combination of the two previous owners' disinterest/advanced age, it's been neglected for at least 10 years. It's quite large - probably 6 feet wide, 4 feet tall and 3 feet deep. The flowers had full, blousey petals, and as I recall,they were a bit under 3 inches across - I'd generically call it a "tea rose." The hips were probably a half inch or so across. It is in a good location where it gets full sun all day. Thanks again for helping me restore it to it's full potential!

Nik.... I think if you leave it where it is, as a freestanding shrub, you are going to have to support its canes with something, I don't know what... I wouldn't want to grow it that way, if it is FEL, and let's assume it is for now... my plant was grown on a partition fence within my garden, not on a boundary, and it grew to about 10-12 feet width before I moved on... it develops thick strong canes, thorny too, and made a heavy plant... at one time I thought it would bring the fence down, so I had to reinforce it...think of it as a mini Kiftsgate... and as you can see from my photos earlier, it's growing on a wall in that garden - best place for it... I was disappointed in that I couldn't detect a great scent either, as I had been led to believe it possessed... ...looking at your rose again, its habit does remind me of it too, canes flying out everywhere, rambler type... they need tying in... ..best of luck with your 6 foot cane approach, but rather you than me...

Hi Mad Gallica, Well I'll meet your bragging challenge. I have 3 own root Darcy Bussell roses purchased last year from a David Austin vendor in NY. They wintered over beautifully, suffered little damage excepting broken canes due to the tremendous amount of snow Massachusetts got this winter and the cold spring which kept the heavy melting snow on them until mid April. They are easily 3 feet tall and loaded with buds. I have 3 more DB purchased from Chamblees this spring which are also loaded with buds and are growing like crazy. This is David Austin own root Darcy Bussell planted last summer. And these are the 3 Chamblees own root still in pots. I also have 3 own root Ambridge rose from David Austin that were planted last summer and are growing well. These had to be cut to the ground due to cane breakage but they are also loaded with buds and thriving. I also just planted 3 Gentle Hermione own roots from David Austins. The root system was huge and the roses are growing well considering they've only been planted about 2 weeks. I would not hesitate to purchase own root roses directly from David Austin Roses. My only wish is that they had more own root varieties available. This is my Ambridge Rose own root purchased from the DA vendor in NY and planted last summer. She was cut back to the ground in early May after the snow melted due to severe cane breakage and is doing quite well. This is Lady of Shalot from last year purchased from Heirlooms if I remember correctly and wintered over in a pot in the ground. I have read that after several years that the grafted roses lose their vigor and produce less roses. This is anecdotal, so I'm not claiming whether it is true or not. I like the fact that if the rose dies back to the ground, which can occur frequently here with our cold temps and sometimes lack of snow cover the same rose will grow back. With own root I don't have to worry about having all my roses grow back as Doctor Huey as happened to IvaKassin or revert to multaflora rose. I also don't have to try to discern suckers from top growth or other issues that occur with grafted roses. I have had grafted Austins that had little vigor, I think this is more a trait of the specific rose rather than if it's grafted or not. So I'll readily agree with MustbNuts and purchase own root roses whenever possible. Sharon