The Tea and climbing Teas

The original Tea-scented Chinas (Rosa × odorata) were Oriental cultivars thought to represent hybrids of R. chinensis with R. gigantea, a large Asian climbing rose with pale-yellow blossoms. Immediately upon their introduction to the Western World from Canton, China in the early 19th-century, breeders went to work with them, especially in France, crossing them first with China roses and then with Bourbons and Noisettes.The Tea roses are repeat-flowering roses, named for their fragrance being reminiscent of Chinese black tea (although this is not always the case). The colour range includes pastel shades of white, pink and (a novelty at the time) yellow to apricot. The individual flowers of many cultivars are semi-pendent and nodding, due to weak flower stalks. In a "typical" Tea, pointed buds produce high-centred blooms which unfold in a spiral fashion, and the petals tend to roll back at the edges, producing a petal with a pointed tip; the Teas are thus the originators of today's "classic" florists' rose form. According to rose historian Brent Dickerson, the Tea classification owes as much to marketing as to botany; 19th-century nurserymen would label their Asian-based cultivars as "Teas" if they possessed the desirable Tea flower form, and "Chinas" if they did not. Like the Chinas, the Teas are not very hardy in colder climates. Examples: 'Lady Hillingdon', 'Maman Cochet', Triomphe de Luxembourg, Safrano etc...

Due to their rather weak hardiness, although not all, they prefer a warm and sunny spot in Western European gardens. Always take the most sunny wall to grow climbing China's. When frost lower than minus ten Celsius is predicted its best to protect the base of the rose with leafs or other insulation. The branches can get damaged but they will recover. Another point of attention is pruning: The best advice is DON'T PRUNE. Teas are very closely related to the China's and we know they hate pruning. So only remove dead or weak wood. Deadheading is always allowed. For Southern Europe, Southern USA and California or Australia Teas can be grown freely without problems. For northern regions in the USA or Europe it is adviced to grow them in greenhouses or conservatories. They are all magnificent roses.