I hate this class of roses. Okay, that might be an excessively broad statement and not entirely true, but to me there is nothing more cliched and saccharine than the hybrid tea rose. Its long bud form to me evokes pouting lips after a series of over-the-top collagen treatments, the generic bouquets in florist shops, discount groceries, and corner bodegas — most of which are one-trick ponies with little or no scent, too often purchased out of duress because some poor chap forgot it was Valentine’s Day or a birthday or an anniversary, and whirled himself into a floral panic attack induced by visions of being made to sleep in the garage for six weeks. Foofy BS. Yes, I like plants, but I am still a guy. Some of these types are as over the top as a table full of doilies.
If Hybrid Teas were all there were, I might never have discovered the amusement of David Austin roses, or any of the other classes out there. It turns out that David Austin himself was an open critic of the hybrid tea, commenting on the subject at length in several of his books. The entire objective of his breeding program was to bring back the form, range of scents, and other attributes of the old garden roses… and having started with several varieties his company developed, I would say they largely succeeded… but they also had the effect of drawing me back to explore, at least in books, many of the older varieties by which his newly developed types were inspired.
That digression aside, there are hybrid teas that avoid the cliches. I told myself I had to have at least one red rose, and the winner of that exhaustive contest turned out to be the older hybrid tea Papa Meilland. I also started exploring newer varieties that, while technically members of the hybrid tea class, are starting to be bred to evoke many of the same characteristics sought in the David Austin line. Hence I also ended up with a clone of the Barni rose Bella di Todi, or as I call it, “The Tuscan Import.” My third hybrid tea is Neptune, a remarkable exhibition-class variety with a stunning grapefruit scent.
