It just really means that your rose -- or in this case, your grandmother's rose,
is a Hybrid Tea Rose.

There should also be a cultivar name on the tag -- perhaps on the other side of the tag.
That would be the familiar commercial name of that particular rose.

It does sound like your grandmother was a fairly serious rosarian.
Do you know in what year she began planting roses there?

Jeri

Rose growers often end up with unknown varieties due to some sort of mishap in their harvesting and packaging operations. Because most rose buyers buy the bloom and not the variety they can get away with selling an unknown variety.
In your case I suspect it meant they didn't have a clue other than the fact it was a hybrid tea.

Did your grandmother garden in zone 2, like you? If so, was it given any winter protection over the years? What would you estimate the age of the rose to be? An old HT surviving z2 conditions must be one hardy critter. If you identify it, please let us know . . .

Jerijen, unfortunately there's no other information on the tag (which is completely intact) other than the price and the grower's logo. Yes, Grandma was quite serious about her roses. There is a huge board of her award ribbons in the kitchen and I think she also had various trophies stashed away. She was on the city's garden tour for a few years. I got to keep the "Garden Is Closed" sign she'd post when tour hours were over for the day. I think it will be a funny little thing to post in the fall when my vegetables are done for the year. :) They came to Canada from England in 1957 and have lived in the same house all those years. I can only assume she started planting roses within days of moving in!

Karl_bapst_rosenut, I think you're right. I'm just going to hope the maps have something to tell us.

Veelakin, my grandparents gardened in Calgary, Alberta, which I believe is zone 3. Their winters used to be nearly as wicked as ours until recent years, though. Chinook winds are the killers in Calgary. Grandma mulched and covered nearly all her roses every year and I believe the majority of her favourites were hybrid teas. I think it's been, oh, 12 or 13 years now since she passed and she personally planted this rose, so it must be older than that. Many of her HTs were lost that first winter because she wasn't there to pamper them and Grandpa was more interested in his vegetable garden. This particular rose, though, survived and was both stunted and protected by runaway delphiniums. The root ball was quite small, so my aunt thought it would be the best rose for me to take (we live 8 hours away in Saskatchewan). My aunts have since replaced some of the garden's roses and have tended them for Grandpa for the last decade. If we do find the ID of my pink HT, I'll certainly let you know!

This is the Sexy Rexy (we think, must find the maps) that will be going to my cousin in Vancouver. It was the prettiest of the blooms when we were there on Saturday. I don't have a photo of the one I got because it's so small. The only two buds it had were accidently broken in transport, but they're in a little vase and are starting to open, so maybe I'll still get to see what shade of pink they'll be. :)
{{gwi:319594}}

Roses that have thrived in that climate for all of those years should be a treasure
for gardeners of the area.

Identity probably matters less than performance.
:-)

Jeri

Well, here she is... the broken buds started opening yesterday.

{{gwi:319595}}

The blooms are so small - this one is only 2 inches across (tip of petal to tip of petal). I'm quite liking the colour, though. :) If this is a hybrid tea as the label indicates (and not a shrub rose or something), does that mean the blooms should get bigger as the plant establishes and grows stronger?

Forgot to say... Jeri, I'd wholeheartedly agree with you if I didn't have this image of Nanny turning purple shouting the cultivar name at us from a cloud somewhere. :)

She was "Nanny"?
SO WAS MY GRANDMOTHER!

Yes, I can see that she might nag at you for it, but you KNOW she will forgive,
if you keep the roses alive and healthy.

Jeri