There are two roses located in the Rex Hazlewood Garden and Macarthur Garden that I believe have been incorrectly labelled as Hume's Blush Tea-scented China. The first four photos are from the Macarthur Garden with the others from the Rex Hazlewood Garden. Unfortunately I have missed the opportunity to take further photos of it it bloom. It appears to be once flowering only with vigorous growth. Having to be regularly pruned back off the path. The Macarthur specimen has been pruned harder than the Rex Hazlewood specimen. Any help with identification is greatly appreciated. Update: The first photo may be from another section labelled Parks Yellow Tea-Scented China (also understood to be incorrect). Macarthur site No. HRG134 T09, Rex Hazlewood site No. SG56 F14
Nadene, I spent a few hours on the Old Parliament House roses this morning. Still a few hours to go tomorrow on it. I opened a file this morning for the last photo called "Hazlewood SG56 F14". Just make sure all the photos in this comment has a garden name and a site number. Tomorrow......
Photos moved to their own “study files”. When you need to, please comment in those files. The files are very bare with not even a colour or class at the moment.
There is some discussion under "Agnes Smith'. The Tealadies' research indicates that the original Hume's Blush disappeared in Europe in the 19th century. There are a number of Hume's Blush candidates around, but none with continuity of the name - they're all speculative.
Thank you Margaret. Most of the pictures of 'Hume's Blush Tea-Scented China' share similar traits to each other even to the old paintings. CASS' pictures have more in common with 'Agnes Smith' than the 'Hume's Blush Tea-Scented China' in commerce.
I've read that Pernetianas were often grafted on 'Odorata' rootstock because they often didn't take to regularly used stocks. I'm not sure if the 'Odorata' used in the early 20th century would be the same as Hume's Blush.
That's interesting HerbertG, I always thought that there had been a surviving plant at Sangerhausen. I'm not saying that anyone is right or wrong but the pictures posted by CASS are different to the others.
Just my two cents, but I don't feel that "Agnes Smith" is the original Hume's Blush. Agnes is always various shades of a clear pink for me. Not really like the early descriptions in colour, in my opinion.
Andrew, your most recently posted photo of this rose (where you show the backs and a bud) does tie in with this 1828 reference ... " it is nearest allied to the Rosa indica but still of a paler colour when in full bloom, and sometimes nearly white; yet the under side of the outer petals is strongly marked with a deepy purply red, which gives it, in the bud state, an appearance of being a high-coloured rose."
Ah that is interesting. After the flowers have opened a day or so they go an ivory colour but like you say always with the dark colour still on the backs. I have uploaded another picture.
Oh like "a freshly open packet of China tea" so I'm told they're supposed to smell of, I have to say I can't smell it myself. The crushed leaves just have a sort of leafy smell whilst the flowers haven't got a very defined rose fragrance their smell reminds me of sweet peas. I thought they were called Tea roses because some came from China and they arrived in the west aboard tea clipper ships. The terminal leaflet is about half as long again as the four side leaves.
That freshly opened chest of tea quote always irks me a bit because I've always felt that the Teas that smell most like tea, smell like the scent of the vapour when you take the lid off the teapot. Lol maybe that's just my nose, but I don't detect a dried tea scent in any of them. I'm pretty sure the name arose when Hume's Blush was called the 'China Rose scented of tea' by the French and the name just stuck for the whole class. The sweet pea scent you detect is interesting - they are usually very fragrant. For what it's worth, Maman Cochet is the rose in whose fragrance I can detect the closest thing to real tea.
American Flower-garden Directory (1832) Hibbert & Buist (Philadelphia, Pa.) p. 183-184 No. 8. Rosa odorata, or Tea-rose, celebrated in this country for its fragrance being similar to fine Hyson tea. It justly deserves preference of all China roses, for the delicacy of its flavour. The flowers are a cream coloured blush, the petals round and full, forming a very large rose; when full blown, it is pendulous. It will withstand the winter of the middle states with a little protection, such as straw, box, or barrel; requires very rich light soil.
And on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyson I learned that:
"Hyson tea is referenced in the first stanza of 'Xenophanes' by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1847: 'By fate, not option, frugal Nature gave One scent to hyson and to wall-flower, One sound to pine-groves and to waterfalls, One aspect to the desert and the lake.'"
So, the famous tea-scent was thought to be similar to the fragrance of the wallflower.
