What are hybrid tea roses? You may well ask 😉 And the simple answer is that they are most people’s idea of the typical rose.
The rose has topped the list of Britain’s favourite flower on many occasions – nearly every year in fact! And hybrid tea roses are also much loved by florists for their long stems and furled flower buds.
It’s the rose bush you probably have growing in your garden. Especially if you “inherited” it when you moved in and it’s now a bit leggy as you weren’t sure how to prune it. (There are blog links at the end on the different types of rose and how to for roses).
What does it look like? Hybrid tea roses are pointed in bud, opening to a many petalled flower, held singly at the end of the stem. There are downsides to this shape, however, as it inclines the shrub to a gangly posture. But clear flower colours in almost every shade has led to the hybrid tea becoming a pre-eminent member of the rose garden.
A little bit of History about Hybrid Tea Roses
The term ‘Hybrid teas’ is a relatively informal but recognised classification in the horticultural world for these particular roses. They are one of the earliest modern roses. A modern rose variety is one which have been bred since the mid nineteenth century and one of the main aims of those developments was to produce a repeat flowering rose. The introduction of the China rose to the western world in 1790 was a huge shift, as prior to that, only the Autumn Damask Rose ‘Quatre Saisons’ flowered more than once in a season.
The hybrid tea roses were developed by crossing hybrid perpetual roses with China tea roses. In case you’re wondering, tea roses quite literally have flowers whose perfume is a tea scent. And refers to a delicate China tea rather than your strong English breakfast blend, I hasten to add! The hybrid perpetual roses themselves were developed from crossing tea roses with other types of rose.
In 1867 the first hybrid tea rose appeared. Rosa ‘Le France’ had soft pink petals and was highly scented. It was a ground breaking rose and is still available from specialist nurseries.
Some of the earlier hybrid teas were on the tender side. One of my favourite novels, “Elizabeth in her German Garden“ by Elizabeth von Arnim, has the eponymous heroine bewailing the cold winters that kill off her imported roses.
Rosa ‘Peace’ is probably one of the most famous of the hybrid teas. Developed in France during the mid-late 1930s by French horticulturalist Francis Meilland, it was named ‘Peace’ as a memory of the ending of the Second World War. Rosa ‘Peace’ has a yellow centre with soft pink on the petal edges.
Ways to Use Hybrid Tea Roses in Your Garden
There are now many hundreds of different hybrid teas to choose from: a rose for every situation and every garden, you could say.
Their lack of foliage on lower stems gives them an upright habit suitable for narrow borders such as those in a front garden against the house. However, that gawkiness can also make it difficult to find space for hybrid teas in our smaller modern gardens. But a good pruning regime will help keep the rose in shape, and it responds well to being pruned.
Hybrid teas can also make good climbing roses. That tendency to be leggy turns them into a climber suitable for small courtyard gardens and balconies.
The lack of foliage at the base of the tall stems can be turned to advantage as it allows for underplanting in a mixed flower border. For example, an ornamental edible garden border could be filled with hybrid tea roses, thymes, lavender, beetroot, chives and mini cucumbers on an obelisk.
If you want a rose border or rose garden rather than including your roses amongst the other plants, it is still a good idea to include some different plants. A monoculture is more prone to disease. A useful addition in a rose garden would be Nepeta, catmint. Decorative and bee friendly for a long period, catmint also seems to reduce the likelihood of pests and diseases.
Perfumed Roses
In the past, hybrid teas often had little or no scent. However, these issues have now been resolved, and some newer varieties are very fragrant. This makes them a strong contender to be included in planting designs and garden designs. And I do enjoy including roses when I’m designing gardens for clients. They fit in beautifully with my passion for ornamental edible gardens: candied rose petals are quite a delicacy.
And finally
For further gardening advice on growing roses and inspiration for rose gardens, check out selection below where I’ve included rose orientated blog links for you.
If you’d like help creating a rose garden, or have queries regarding your existing garden, do get in touch to ask about our design and consultancy services.
But if you’d prefer hands-on personal help from yours truly, with a mix of practical sessions and theory, why not ask about our bespoke Gardening Lessons, where your classroom is actually your own garden? You could learn how to grow roses so they’re easy maintenance and how to propagate them. We can help with both gardening basics and more ‘expert tasks’, carry out worm and other experiments and for example, also show you how to plan a sustainable rose garden. Have a read through this pdf download for info.
For further free gardening advice and inspiration, check out our other Plews Potting Shed blogs. Plus we have a monthly Tipsheet (currently changing our provider, so there may be a delay) You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.
Feeling nosey? You can have a peek at the progress of my garden renovation, Spitfires and Slow Worms, on Instagram and Facebook
You’ll get to see it in person if you come to the Plews Gardening Workshops Current ones on Eventbrite for you to book into.
Plus why not get your local garden club, allotment, WI, U3A or other group to ask me along to give a talk? (and bring plants 😉)
Related Gardening articles you may enjoy from our Award Winning Blog
Planting Ideas for Roses
Scented Roses, rose bushes, climbers, fragrant flowers
Wedding Anniversary Roses for Your Garden
Romantic Roses for Valentine’s Day and Beyond
Roses – Cultivation tips
How to Air Layer Roses – Propagation Techniques
Rose Garden Visits
Rose gardens – the scent of paradise
Roseto Comunale, Rose Garden, Rome
Garden Snippets
Grow Your Own Tea Garden – Camellia Sinensis, the Tea Plant
Red Roses and Dragons in Your Garden
The blog banner original photo is of the Queen Elizabeth pink rose by MasterChefNobu from Getty images on Canva
