That's good to know, Ingrid; I couldn't find a clear or close enough view of the receptacles on the Cass/SJHRG photos of Souvenir d'un Ami (which Cass mentions was obtained from Ashdown). The "Jack L" of Thousand Oaks photo on HMF of a Souvenir d'un Ami bud (flower of which resembles the Cass/SJHRG versions, too) also shows non-glandular receptacle and sepals. Because degree of glandularity can vary to some extent with climate, season, and growing conditions (and here I'm talking from familiarity with identifying wild-growing plants of other species, not roses, of which I know next to nothing), I'm assuming that's why Billy West is asking if this is a constant trait on FB. I can see why there has been dissatisfaction with reconciling modern versions of Souvenir d'un Ami with the old descriptions. As noted in "Tea Roses, Old Roses for Warm Gardens", the Australian Souvenir d'un Ami, along with only occasionally having glands, also lacks "...the plump bud, elongated receptacle and drooping globular flower shape shown in early illustrations and photographs of 'Souvenir d'un Ami', (Curtis 1850-53; Drennan 1912)...". Florence Bower's may turn out to lack these, too, and/or have other inconsistancies with 'Souvenir d'un Ami' as originally described. Will certainly need to grow FB for more years further than I have now to see what she's really like. Debbie

'Anna Olivier' and 'Lady Roberts' are in the top rank of my favorite roses old or new. I actually prefer 'Anna Olivier' because it adds pink tintings to LR's buff and orange. I've had both for, well, quite a long time. Frequently, they are indistinguishable; but when the weather is just so and they color up, the pink will come out in AO's coloration. The buds are long and beautiful on both; and just half an hour ago I was noting that AO had some enormous blossoms. At one time, Sangerhausen listed having a 'Climbing Anna Olivier', which instantly became my top desideratum; but either they lost it or misidentified it (or perhaps misidentified it and then lost whatever it was they misidentified). At any rate, anyone who can grow Tea roses will never regret growing LR or AO; they're distinctive, and there's just nothing bad one can say about them!

Having the requisite inland heat, I can share some of my experiences with tea roses. Reve d'Or has afternoon shade but is planted against the house wall and struggles a bit there, especially in the summer. I hope as time goes on this rose will become tougher, but even now this rose gives me quite a few lovely blooms. Le Vesuve, Souvenir d'un Ami, Miss Atwood, Rosette Delizy, Westside Road Cream Tea, Mrs. B.R. Cant, Alexander Hill Gray, Mrs. Dudley Cross and William R. Smith are all doing very well. Clementina Carbonieri, Monsieur Tillier and General Tartas frizzled rather quickly for me and I no longer have them. Perhaps if I hadn't been so impatient and let them mature that might have changed. Duchesse de Brabant seems to suffer also but I'm keeping her and hope for better things as she grows older. Ingrid

Hi Nik, mine came from 'Vivaio S'Orrosa' here in Italy - Vivaio S'Orrosa The website is in Italian only but if you click on 'Il Cuore della Collezione' and then on 'Rosa Te' and then 'Le Nostre Te' you will find three pages of photos of his tea roses (drool). Apart from Dr. Grill, I've also bought from him Octavus Weld, Anna Olivier, Mlle. de Sombreuil (Roseraie de l'Hay) and, last year, Lady Roberts. All the roses are incredibly healthy and strong growers. I checked back through my photos of Dr. Grill and can only say that the flower colour is extremely variable and, obviously, my plant is still very young. I apologise if I've posted these photos before but here is a rose from my Dr. Grill photographed at 12:22 on 18th October - looking very pink - And here is the same flower two hours later - A day later it looked like this - These colours are quite different from the colours in July/August (when it was very hot). It's getting quite a few buds at the moment and I'm interested to see how they develop. However, after a glorious Indian summer for the past few weeks it looks as if we're due for some much colder weather next week so the buds may never turn into flowers :-(