Category: March 2022

Some roses confound with their changeable colours. Ones that irritate with their habit of growing sideways, sometimes in preference to growing upwards. Those that prove unsatisfying to photograph as their blooms are untidy to the point of being misshapen. These are special roses, described to me by David Stone, former head gardener at Mottisfont, as ‘roses for the connoisseur’. They hate cold weather, preferring warm sun but will often turn their heads away or droop their necks. They thumb their noses, metaphorical ones, at fungal diseases. A reputation for fragility, but think more of a frail spinster aunt decked with lace who thought nothing of walking miles in vile weather. Secateurs will almost cause a faint though. Those sideways shoots always produce a cluster of blooms with every node below joining in for the burst of bloom. All are forgiven for their exotic, sensual perfume – the Tea Roses.

A huge number of Tea Roses were introduced in the fifty years or so before WWI. Many lost to cultivation now as their popularity waned and they were overshadowed by the new Hybrid Teas. ‘General Galliéni’ is one of the noble survivors, bred by Gilbert Nabonnand and introduced in 1899.

A mostly red rose with yellow petal bases, but ‘General Galliéni’ can be copper with orange tones, raspberry and cream, or peachy pink. Occasionally drifts to maroon, brown hued red or purple. No two blooms are ever quite the same hue. Nor the same shape. Often asymmetric with petals pinched up, the kind that makes you lower your camera thinking – next week they will be better. A perfect bloom with ruffled petals repays your wait, sometimes! This diversity creates a rose shrub of great charm. ‘General Galliéni’ demands your attention and rewards with a light but pervasive fragrance. Almost continuous in bloom with an early start and goes on to early winter.

His growth habits are no less untidy. Mine has a drunken lean despite my efforts to persuade him to stand up straight. These are roses that create their personal space which in turn means a gap between two or a friendly cuddle with a neighbour Tea. I have attempted some training with canes and ties, but he is a strong willed grower so I leave him to sprawl. Size? In the UK likely to be a metre in height and possibly wider. In Australia, 3m is more the norm.

Attractive light green foliage, a little sparse perhaps but zero fungal diseases. Occasional aphids perhaps but easily blitzed with soapy water. USDA zones 7-9 is the given range but Teas are happy in hot climates. Widely available.

Are you a rose connoisseur? Or does the untidiness of Tea roses not match your garden style? Worried about the hardiness? Growing the General in a container placed on wheels could help to place him in sheltered spots. I feel the Teas hate cold freezing rain rather than hard frosts. Maybe a brolly would be better?

And his namesake? Joseph Simon Galliéni (1849-1916) was both a French colonial administrator and a military commander.

His military career began in the Franco-Prussian war before he moved to the colonial service initially in Senegal before becoming governor of French Sudan. He developed the ‘tache d’huile’ method, the ‘oil spot’ technique still used in counterinsurgency today. Winning ‘hearts and minds’ instead of heavy firepower and bombardment. Promoted to General in 1896 and made Governor of Madagascar where he illegally deposed the Malagasy monarchy, exiling Queen Ranavalona to Reunion.

In 1905 he returned to France as Military Governor of Lyon and a position in the Superior War Council. He failed in his attempts to modernise the French Army in battle dress, they still wore the ‘pantalon rouge’, and in military tactics. He retired in early 1914 just before the death of his wife.

He was recalled in August 1914 with the outbreak of WWI and was appointed Governor of Paris. Here he encountered the war minister Adolphe Messimy, son of Madame Laurette Messimy. Her rose was featured on this blog on January 1st. He is credited with the victory of the First Battle of the Marne and in late 1915 took the post of Minister of War. Sadly, he served just a short term before dying of cancer in May 1916. Created Marshal of France in 1921.

If ever a man deserved a rose, it was this man.

Tea Roses are a cross between Rosa chinensis and Rosa gigantea. R. chinensis originates from the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan – Zones 8/9. R. gigantea is a little more tender coming from the Chinese provinces of Sikkim, Yunnan, the Indian province of Manipur and Burma – Zones 9/10 so a subtropical rose. R.chinensis is quite happy at Zone 7b but R.gigantea is not happy below 8b. However, I have found references for this rose growing in the UK in the late 19^th and 20^th centuries when the winters were much colder than today. These are the roses that brought repeat and continuous blooming genes into rose breeding in the late 19^th century.

I think the colour is related to the air temperature and humidity as he is much stronger in colour in the heat of summer and tends to have cooler colours as the temperature falls. But not always, he sometimes has a rather yellow bloom next to a red one. A little like Mutabilis except the blooms don’t change from yellow to red in the space of half a day.

I admit to an addiction to the Teas. I hope I can persuade more of you to try one or five. ‘General Galliéni’ is an excellent rose to start your collection.