Hybrid Tea Rose

Hybrid Tea roses are to most people the best kind of rose . They are usually fragrant , always eye catching and the flowers are of a good size.
Hybrid Tea roses do not flower so profusely as floribunda's but they make up for it in my opinion with better quality blooms.

It is like the old saying goes - it is better to have quality rather than quantity . Well it is in this case anyway !

The flower is the classic rose shape - many petals with a distinct central cone. The blooms are almost always borne singly or with several side shoots instead of the clusters of the more prolific but inferior floribuna rose ( see my op on floribunda's )

I reckon hybrid teas are slightly more tricky to grow well , though they are hardly difficult.Once you see the long pointed bud at the end of a stem - promising so much , you'll know even then you have made the right choice.
The range of colours is immense - ditto the fragrances . You'll never need buy another room freshener again in summer .

The downside of Hybrid tea's is that the blooms can often be ruined by bad weather and blackspot disease is a real menace . unless you grow some of the more resistant varieties.
They also blooms less regular than floribunda's , though with regular pruning and dead heading you should get at least two flushes of flower.

I've grown these roses for what seems like an eternity . I have grown them in clay soil , in sandy soil and good loam too.
If you have heavy soil add a bit of coarse grit to improve drainage . They don't welcome waterlogging that is for sure .
Then provide a sunny location away from buildings and walls , a little granular feed and you are away.

Pruning is done end of Feb or even autumn if you prefer . Be severe - ruthless even . Six inches off the ground is ideal for the pruning cuts of most varieties.

My faves

The list of my choice is endless . For red blooms try Fragrant Cloud. This has the benefit as the name suggests of welcoming your nostrils from afar.
For yellow try Golden Times another fragrant variety with red tinged buds that open into a lovely golden yellow.
Lady Seton is a good pink and very fragrant variety - very sweet smelling indeed . It has won a RNRS award as well.

I cannot leave without mentioning the world's best selling rose of any description - Peace . Perhaps the name has something to do with it's popularity ,but it is a fine plant in it's own right . The blooms are pale or dark yellow ,with a pink edge. The fragrance is not that strong, but it more than makes up for that with good disease resistance.

There are lots more .
I love a fragrant rose and would never be without them in my garden.Indeed a garden is not a garden without a rose.

© Lee Senior