Teas look a lot like their direct parents the China's. They make new growth from every leaf axle if they get the chance. It was the first thing I noticed when I purchased my first Tea, Rêve d'or. She came to me (from Lens) as a container rose and was 1 meter (3 feet) tall. After two weeks she started to make new growth but not only from the leaf axles where I deadheaded them. No she made new shoots from leaf axles much lower. The result was a twiggy rose with plentiful of thin shoots which kept on growing. If we compare this to our modern roses such as HT's and Floribundas it's certainly different. These modern roses normally only grow new shoots at the deadheading spot or from the base (at the graft). The result is that Teas are much quicker packed with wood giving a fuller appearance.
Due to the rather twiggy, thin shoots Teas don't get the massive, top heavy flowers from let's say the Austin roses or so many HT's. No, the Tea rose flowers are well in proportion although there are exceptions to this rule such as Baronne Henriette Snoy, she has big, heavy flowers but her wood is also stronger.
Tea flowers always tend to nod their head a bit and in rose circles we call this the "weak neck syndrome". I find this a wonderful feature as the flowers look more at us. Combined with the thin growth it always seems as if the Tea flowers float in the air, they dangle down gracefully.
Another big difference with modern roses is that Teas really HATE pruning. They just don't like it and they will let you know. Growth and blooming will go stagnant and in some cases they can even die. So always resist the urge to prune in early spring. It saves time and effort.
Are Teas weaker? Less healthy? Again the answer is NO. In the extremely wet spring and summer of 2024 nearly all my remaining modern roses got defoliated due to Blackspot but many of my Teas didn't get blackspot. Some powdery mildew can occur but often it's nothing serious.
As with all roses you have to give Teas time to develop, to prove themselves. Normally it takes three to four years for a rose to develop itself and to start performing at its best. So be patient, don't intervene to quickly and yes... don't prune
If you live in the right hardy zone (normally between 7b and 10b) Teas aren't more difficult to grow. Always remember that they need a warm, sunny and rather sheltered spot especially when you live at the boundaries of the right zones.
Rêve d'or, a typical example of a twiggy Tea climber
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