When most people think of a "rose" they are really picturing the classic hybrid tea roses with their large, delicate blooms that come from the florist. Although not everyone agrees, it appears that the first hybrid tea cultivar was 'La France' which was introduced in 1867.

Of course, this all started with the so-called tea roses that came to Europe from China along with shiploads of tea. These were cross bred with hybrid perpetual roses to come up with the hybrid tea.

Unlike earlier types of roses which had small, five-petaled flowers which bloomed only during June, hybrid teas can bloom the entire season if pruned properly. On the basic hybrid tea, each flower is borne singly or in small clusters on the end of the stem.

Perhaps one of the key traits of the hybrid tea is that it is not very winter hardy. Generally, they can be grown without winter protection only in areas that do not dip to 10 degrees or less. That is one reason why most hybrid teas sold today are grafted onto another type of more hardy root stock.