There are many heroes in our world, both past and present.  People whose passion leads them to help those less fortunate than themselves.  People like Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King.  They change the world.

My contribution to society is much less important, but it makes me happy and hopefully those I try to help.  My passion is teaching people how easy and satisfying rose growing actually is.  I believe a beautiful rose garden, especially one that includes many beautiful perennials, is a place to find peace at the end of a day usually filled with the stress of job pressures, commuting in heavy traffic, family responsibilities and a mailbox full of bills.

And all the other parts of being a “grown up”.

Listed below are 10 of my favorite hybrid tea roses.  Hybrid teas are usually 4-5 feet tall with a beautiful bloom atop a long stem.  When you call the florist to deliver a bouquet of roses they are almost always hybrid teas, however the varieties of roses used in the floral industry are rarely the ones we grow in our garden.

Hybrid teas are considered to be the divas of the rose world.  Beautiful, but spoiled, demanding much attention.  Not true.  By choosing the right variety of hybrid tea you can have a rose that produces buckets full of perfect exhibition style blooms often with wonderful fragrance and excellent disease resistance.  Roses that are very easy to grow…and love.

1.)       Double Delight – A 4 foot bush.  It is white with dark red edges and wonderful fragrance.  A winner of the James Gamble Fragrance Award, Double Delight is an all time favorite.

2.)       Elina – A soft yellow 4-5 foot bush.  Good yellow roses can be difficult to find.  Elina is highly rated and well deserved.  She is lovely. Lightly fragrant.

3.)       Fragrant Cloud – Another James Gamble Fragrance Winner.  I think this is the most fragrant hybrid tea ever.  Its blooms are a deep orange red.  The bush is usually 3-4 feet and blooms profusely.

4.)       Full Sail – My favorite white hybrid tea.  Extremely fragrant, excellent disease resistance and loads of bloom on a 4 foot bush.

5.)       Gemini – Not only is this my birth sign, but far more importantly it is simply an exquisite rose. It reaches 5 feet in my garden and is loaded with perfect high centered ivory blooms that boost a soft coral pink edge. Gemini wins “Queen of The Show” all over the PNW.  This is one of my favorite all time roses.

6.)       Just Joey – A beautiful rich copper rose with a lighter peach edge. He is wonderfully fragrant and constantly in bloom.  He stands about 4 feet tall.

7.)       Moonstone – Huge ivory blooms outlined in soft pink.  The blooms look like porcelain.  Moonstone is 3-4 feet tall with a light fragrance.

8.)       New Zealand – A relative of Full Sail with soft pink blooms and all the wonderful qualities of its relative; great fragrance and excellent disease resistance. Lovely at 4 feet tall.

9.)       Olympiad – A bright clear red with fantastic disease resistance and a profusion of bloom that will fill your vases all summer. Olympiad is 5 feet tall and lightly fragrant.

10.)   Touch of Class – The highest rated hybrid tea rose in the world and has also been voted the top exhibition rose.  High centered coral pink blooms with an excellent fragrance.  Can have a little mildew in the spring and fall, but not a big concern. Usually 5 feet tall.

The amazing performance of these 10 roses occurs when certain rules are followed;

1.)       6 or more hours of sun during the growing season.

2.)       1-2 inches of water per week.

3.)        4 cups of Terosa Rose Food once a year.

4.)       One or two applications of alfalfa and Epsom salts. Recipe: 2 cups alfalfa meal and one fourth cup Epsom salts applied to the base of each rose, just as you would apply Terosa.

5.)       Pulling off any leaves that have blackspot or mildew as soon as possible and using a non toxic bug and disease spray as necessary.

Terri Hiatt works at Peninsula Gardens as a buyer, designer and rose expert. She teaches gardening classes all over the Pacific Northwest and also at Peninsula Gardens and at Tacoma Community College in Gig Harbor and is the creator of Terosa Ultimate Once A Year Fertilizers. She can be reached at terrihiatt@hotmail.com.