Best Tea for Zone 10b?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi all,

I want another tea (I want every tea, but that's another story), and have managed to narrow the desirables down to this list. They're all in stock at ARE.

Dr. Grill

Gilbert Nabonnand

Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux

Madame Wagram

William R. Smith

Teas are supposed to do well here, and my Marie Van Houtte bloomed like gangbusters last year, but this year she has been sulking. My Souvenir de Mlle. Leonie Vientot is green and vigorous, but has put forth exactly one bloom. I want to branch out.

Obviously, I am partial to pale pinks, pink blends, and creamy pinks. I don't think I want a yellow or dark red rose at this point.

Thanks!

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Comments (6)

jerijen
8 years ago
Souv. de Mme. Leonie Viennot doesn't bloom here, either (but Lord God, she is spectacular in TX).

You don't say where you are located, and it matters. If you were my next door neighbor, in Coastal Ventura Co., SoCal, I would insist that you buy G. Nabonnand. But if you are someplace like Florida, my choices may be wrong for you.
plectrudis (Zone 8b Central TX)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Hello, Sylvia. We've had Rhodologue for ~3 years, and I've become very fond of him. He's got healthy, dark green foliage that sets off the porcelain pink flowers, and he's pretty bloomiferous--this year, he bloomed all of April, took a breather in May, and started again in June continuing on to the present. The flowers seem to vary a bit in shape, size, and color, depending on the weather and so on, which could be a drawback if you're particular about form. But with the dark foliage, pale pink color, and free-blooming-ness, he's a great rose.
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SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal
Original Author
8 years ago
Jerijen, I'm in the San Fernando Valley, just outside L.A. Plectrudis, RJulesD sounds great. But then you're in Texas, where it's humid.

Although this summer has been wetter than usual, we're still in a state of severe drought. I manage, though ... So far.

thanks!
nikthegreek
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
A comment in HMF by John Hook from France regarding SdMLV:

'This rose troubles me. It has been growing everywhere around here
reputedly for the last 100 years, over this period people have
continually taken cuttings and started their own plants. My problem is
that there are so many variants, Leaf shape and length, prickles, once
blooming or remontant and flower shade. None of the clones are
completely different though, they have usually only 1 variant'

I have the rose on order from Trevor White in the UK. From the pics I see this looks to me like a hybrid gigantea in the shape of Fortune's Double Yellow rather like a 'normal' Tea rose. Not reblooming is of course very different than not blooming at all! I can only attribute the refusal to bloom to lack of sufficiently cold temps during the winter. Sometimes some roses take some years to bloom btw, this may have to do with the 'age' (nodal age) of the cutting from which the rose was created.

Sorry for the digression.
jerijen
8 years ago
No, Silvia -- I'm in Camarillo -- a few miles up the coast from you, in coastal So. Ventura County.

Given your location, I would DEFINITELY recommend G. Nabonnand to you.

(Souv. de Mme. Leonie Viennot didn't bloom here, and she didn't bloom at the Stagecoach Inn, in Newbury Park.)

In your location, I think that Wm. R. Smith would also be good for you, and so would the other Cochet types: 'Maman Cochet,' 'White Maman Cochet,' and particularly 'Niles Cochet,' which I think is the best of that lot. And -- not a Tea, but . . . If you don't grow "Grandmother's Hat," you should.
SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal
Original Author
8 years ago
Gilbert Nabonnand it is. Just ordered him. Thanks every one!

Now, if anyone out there wants a thriving Souvenir de Mlle. Leonie Vientot -- let me know, and you can have her for the shipping charges. I have no idea how you might ship a spreading rose now in a container, but if you want the plant, and you can tell me how to ship it, it's yours. :)

Sylvia

Best Tea for Zone 10b?

Comments (6)

jerijen

plectrudis (Zone 8b Central TX)

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Best Tea for Zone 10b?

Comments (6)

jerijen

plectrudis (Zone 8b Central TX)

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SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCalOriginal Author

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