The Bride. May, 1885. White sport from Catherine Mermet.
[White Maman Cochet]. Cook, 1898. White sport from Maman Cochet.
CHAPTER VII
Hybrid Tea-Roses, R. indica odorata hybrida
Of all gracious gifts that the patient science of hybridists has bestowed on rose-lovers, the development of the Hybrid Tea is perhaps the greatest. For here we have a rose with the substance and vigorous constitution of the Hybrid Perpetual, one of its parents, and the varied and delicate colours of its other parent, the Tea rose. Whether for the garden, to keep it brilliant with blossom from early summer to latest autumn, or to deck the exhibition bench with largest and most lovely blooms, the Hybrid Tea stands unrivalled. And yet in 1867 there was but one solitary specimen of the race in existence, and that one was not recognized as being the forerunner of a new family, or distinct in any way, except in its beauty. For the noble rose La France, which M. Guillot sent out in that year, was classed then, and for many years after, as a Hybrid Perpetual.
It was not until 1873 that Messrs. Paul & Son, of Cheshunt, sent out the first so-called Hybrid Tea, the Cheshunt Hybrid. Though in the same year Lacharme introduced that priceless rose Captain Christy: but this, like La France, was for many years classed with the Hybrid Perpetuals.
