The author’s (Lynne Chapman, Noelene Drage, Di Durston, Jenny Jones, Hillary Merrifield and Billy West) passion for The Tea Rose. This is a book that should be in the hands of every California Rose Lover - certainly every Californian who favors the durability, beauty, and toughness of the old Tea Roses.
Tea roses - once almost forgotten - are now being celebrated again for their elegance and beauty and acclaimed as superb shrubs for warm gardens.
Descended from Chinese garden hybrids introduced into Europe in the early nineteenth century, Tea roses have long been considered in a class of their own for their exquisite colours, distinctive fragrance, fine foliage and almost constant flushes of flowers in warmer climates.
They were looked upon as almost perfect roses, but the passage of time and the vagaries of fashion saw them lose favour and all but disappear. The authors have covered the history of Tea roses, their rise and fall in popularity and the nomenclature problems that arose during their revival when interest in old roses was rekindled in the later twentieth century. Readers will find many questions answered and some old mysteries unravelled. Full details are given of Tea roses currently sold in Australia, with the authors bringing together their observations and knowledge of the Teas they grow - the descriptions are first-hand and not just a repetition of what has been said before.
Lavishly illustrated with colour photographs and historical plates, this book invites you to share the beauty and the fascinating story of the Teas - but be warned - once captivated by these lovely roses there is no going back.
Lynne Chapman, Noelene Drage, Di Durston, Jenny Jones, Hillary Merrifield and Billy West are long-term members of the Perth Region of Heritage Roses in Australia. Known as the Tea Rose Group, they came together because of a mutual love of the Teas which flourish in their climate. (And ours!) At first they were simply interested in growing these beautiful roses but soon wanted to bring together as many as possible and to learn more about them. They now grow all of the Teas in commerce in Australia, as well as others yet to be identified.
Finding information about these once very popular roses proved to be more difficult than expected. The authors soon realized that they would have to do they’re own investigation into the Teas, combining their various skills in botany, horticulture, historical research, photography, languages and writing.
This book is the outcome and is the first to have been devoted solely to Tea roses for over 100 years. Although questions still remain, the Tea Group feels that the time has come to share what we know about the Teas and to recommend them as rewarding plants for warmer gardens.
There is as yet no U.S. distributor.
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