Lux, Here's an article from help me find that explains the Dept of Agricultures "reasoning" for the ban. The explanation is within the body of the text which concerns the roses of Alister Clark so scroll down a paragraph or two. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Why Roses from Australia are banned

Inspired by hearing that Vintage will be importing from Roseraie du Desert, I went to the RdD site, looked through all the teas and Chinas (that had photographs) and made a short of list of ones I'd love to get in my already full garden. Still, it was fun, although a bit torturous. MlCdL is on my short list, btw. I hope they make us both happy. I'd also love to hear from those in Europe who grow some of the teas from RdD, and who would comment on how they perform in the garden. A pretty picture on a website is one thing. A rock star in the garden is another.

REALLLLLLLLLLLLY OFF TOPIC: lol...my French is rusty (with whom can I even hold a French chat? lol), but even so the basic grammar stuck. But if you don't know the feminine/masculine designation of the noun involved, some things seem absolutely arbitrary. But they ain't, lol. First of all, all common, non-formal nouns are preceded by one of the following articles: "Le" or "la", means "the": Le + masculine word La + feminine word les = plural, non gender specific --------------------------------------------------------------- "De, d' ", literally "of", non-gender specific. So: De + word d' + word beginning with a vowel. -------------------------------------------------------------- "De le" is literally " the one, of the..", but equates with "some" when used in French. "Du" is the masculine form. du (+ masculine word) de la (+ feminine word), de l’ (followed by a vowel) Des = more than one, non gender specific -------------------------------------------------------------- "Un, une" equals "one, 'a'... (fill in the blank)" un (+ masculine word) une (+ feminine word) --------------------------------------------------------------- Now to confuse things royally, the noun is NOT masc/fem depending on what it IS, but rather on the root of the word. So it's the word itself which is feminine or masculine, not the meaning of the word. A word denoting something we think of as masculine could be a feminine WORD, and vice versa. Knowing which is which takes...a great memory or a good French dictionary, lol. There are some clues, though: Nouns ending in "e" will be feminine 90% of the time, therefore you use "de la" or "une". EXCEPTIONS are words ending in "-age, -ege, – ` eme, -ome/- ` ome, -aume, -isme". These endings denote a masc word, even though they end with "e". Nouns ending with a CONSONANT tend to be MASCULINE, again, probably 90% of the time. Therefore you use "du" or "un". See....easy peasy, lol. (Francophile) John

HI Joe I'm popping into the discussion late, just to make some comments about relative hardiness. You're warmer than I am by a zone or two, so take that into account - still, when you're looking for hardy long-blooming roses having ones that are hardy a zone or two beyond you can help. Obviously Christopher and madgallica are going to have feedback more pertinent for your specific location. In my experience, Souvenir de la Malmaison is particularly winter tender and even in your zone will need some protection in the winter. Apparently SDLM has considerable tea rose in its heritage enough that it's a real wimp in cold. Consequently I put my last (maybe 5th) try at SDLM in my most protected and pampered spot along with 6 or 7 teas that I can overwinter in zone 5 with pampering. SDLM didn't even think about coming back with maximum protection in my virtual zone 6, so I'd put her marginal in even zone 7. She'll want protection even there. Kronprinzessin Viktoria, Marchesa Beccella, Rose du Roi (the one from Burling), and Clotilde Soupert are all winter hardy for me without much effort. I think La Reine might be in a better spot, though it failed to overwinter in a part shade spot once so far. For repeat bloom, the best is Marchesa Boccella - she's going to bloom with the frequency of the others you mention. For me, KV and CS are mostly spring and fall bloomers, and my Rose du Roi is too new to repeat much at all (just approaching its third year). Reine des Violettes laughs off the cold and is reliably hardy, just be sure to get the real version of this one (Burling has the real RdV for instance) as there's a once-bloomer sold under this name as well. As others mentioned, teas in your climate will take quite a bit of work but are marginally doable at a much reduced state. If you want to indulge for your own sake and fuss (as opposed to your mom's), the more hardy teas for me have been Maman Cochet (probably the most hardy), Mrs BR Cant, Duchesse de Brabant, and Madame Antoine Mari. Georgetown Tea made it several years as did Rainbow. None of them bloom profusely but they're a novelty in zone 5 and as such fun for me. Cynthia