91 Old Roses: Tea Roses.
Description
This article is from the Rose Gardening FAQ, by Bill Chandler chandler@austin.ibm.com, Jolene Adams jolene@cchem.berkeley.edu, Brent C. Dickerson odinthor@csulf.edu, Karen Baldwin kbaldwin@veribest.com, and many contributors
91 Old Roses: Tea Roses.
Teas are so called because many discern in their blossoms the scent of
"a newly-opened sample of the choicest tea". Their supposed ancestry is
R. chinensis x R. gigantea, the latter being a high-climbing Chinese
rose with large primrose-colored blossoms fading quickly to white. The
British introduced the first two cultivars to the West in 1810 and
1824; the French quickly began hybridizing with them. The spiralling
starry form now usually associated with an unfurling rose bud derives
from the Tea and, to a lesser extent, the China. Teas are considered by
many aficionadoes to have the most exquisite form and coloration in the
world of the Rose. The problem confronted by the French, however, was
that the bushes producing these blossoms were frail (at least, in
France and England!), and the blossoms very susceptible to damage from
the weather. Some took to growing them as greenhouse plants; others
tried to improve the plant by cross-breeding. Several interesting
results were produced, as we shall see in other categories below. In
the history of the Teas, however, the most important crosses were with
the Bourbons. This began a new race of Teas, most of which were quite
unlike the old ones: large, vigorous, thick-limbed shrubs, often with
perfectly healthy, beautiful glossy foliage. The colors range
throughout the rose palette (reds, pinks, whites, blushes, yellows,
oranges), but most special to Teas are the colors of dawn: tones of
gold, warm pink, and rose shading into each other, with delicate tints
and highlightings. `Anna Olivier', `Maman Cochet', `Safrano', `Comtesse
de Labarthe', `Mme. Antoine Mari', `Souvenir de Therese Levet',
`Catherine Mermet', `Etoile de Lyon', `Devoniensis', `Lady Hillingdon'.
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