Hybrid Tea Roses

Hybrid Tea roses descend from tea roses and hybrid perpetuals. The formal shape and any tea fragrance comes from the former; cold hardiness and other fragrances are inherited from the latter. Remontance may be passed down from either side as are a certain stiffly upright habit and limited branching tendency. The large, formal flowers are the unifying strength of these roses. While there are many notable exceptions, hybrid teas are frequently prone to fungal disease, not very vigorous, quite parsimonious with their blossoms, and ill suited to locations that have any shade, any drought, or poor soil. Where all its needs are ideally met, many of the hybrid tea roses, even many of the middling ones, can produce either many blooms or a satisfactory number of very nice blooms. The parts of the world where this can be expected are few, being mostly in locations with mediterranean climates and rich soil.

The classification of large flowered roses can be confusing. According to the ARS method, hybrid tea roses will have large, well formed flowers and typically be produced one per stem. Grandifloras will be essentially the same except the flowers may be expected to be a little smaller and be produced several per stem. These two classes are not distinguished under a WFRS system which lumps them together as large flowered roses. When we have encountered roses classed as Grandilforas we have asked ourselves "would we be more likely to plant the rose for its individual blossoms or for its ability to create a bed of color?" When the answer is the former, we have lumped the rose with hybrid teas, the latter with floribundas. It seems confusing until one things about the purpose or effect for which we would plant the rose.