They're all very pretty. I really prefer the dark pink to the more reddish Chinas (or perhaps they're really the same), but at any rate they look very pretty in your garden, with Graham Thomas looking unexpectedly attractive next to the pinks.

Very interesting and pretty! I think it was Jeri Jennings who said that seeds of red chinas were shared and sold, so that they're all similar but have small differences.

I posted about my search for the cherry scented Louis Philippe, and today I was able to get cuttings of an unknown red china. Based on some almost blown flowers, it seems different from what I have bought as Louis Philippe. The most unique thing about them was that the petals had remained completely cupped with no reflexing or curling at the edges. But we've been having a somewhat cooler spell lately, so that might have something to do with it.

What a great comparison! Unfortunately I can't grow any of these lovelies in my cold.

I love your comparison photos! I only wish we could all meet and add our ours to the photo. Of course they would be grown under different circumstances so they could be very different. Thank you!

Elizabeth's is on my wish list

Absolutely beautiful roses. I envy you Americans for having so many Chinas available to you.

Ingrid, it does look nice with GrahamT, doesn't it? I wish I could claim credit for it, but I had the rose and needed to plop it somewhere, and there was an empty spot next to GT, so in it went.

That said, GT probably isn't long for this garden. He looks lovely now, but for me most of the year he's a collection of sulky sticks, only throwing out a petulant bloom or two every now and then. I'm exploring a number of candidate replacement yellows, though, so hopefully I can recreate the look with a plant that has less of an attitude problem.

Belle, I remember your post on cherry-scented Chinas--I can only catch a light scent on my Cramoisi from ARE, but I'm not sure if the fault lies with the rose or with my sniffer. I love it dearly, anyway--it's one of my very most favorite roses ever.

Jeri, that Elizabeth's China is gorgeous! I my have to add that to my (already too long) mental shopping list. I totally agree with you about red Chinas--they combine toughness with generosity and unpretentiousness, and I find the combination very endearing.

Seil, I've grown so fond of the Chinas, Teas, and Bourbons that do well here that it's hard for me to even imagine gardening in another climate. Which is ridiculous--if I moved to a cooler region, I'm sure I'd grow to be every bit as loyal to the lovely petalliferous Gallicas, Centifolias, Mosses, and Hybrid Perps that look so miserable down here. Plus, no heat-induced summer dormancy!

Adam, I feel your pain--I've salivated over many a Tea in Europe and Australia that I'll never be able to buy here. If I ever visit one of the big rose gardens in Europe, my husband will have to physically restrain me from stuffing my pockets with surreptitiously swiped cuttings.

Thanks, Kippy! Wouldn't that be a nifty experiment? A big spectrum of blossoms with different cultivars stretching out horizontally, and specimens of each cultivar from different regions arranged vertically. There are so many similar Chinas--it would be really instructive to see them all compared.

plectrudis -- You have a great turn of phrase.

You're right, too, about falling in love with the roses that excell where you are. :-)

This is my Ferndale's color in the cooler weather

'Petalliferous' - very good word, Plectrudis! SpellCheck is complaining, on my computer - but what does SC know about the blooms of old garden roses?

Comtesse ;¬)

Nice analysis, Plectrudis. I also have Ferndale, Korbel, and Cramoisi. It is true that Cramoisi is more often very red (in cool temps especially) while Ferndale and Korbel are basically some sort of pink most of the time. Agree that there is hardly a penny's worth of difference between Ferndale and Korbel. EXCEPT, sometimes I can detect a scent in Korbel like that of Vintage's version of Louis Philipe, which had a very sweet scent (and a similar flower; I lost that plant, unfortunately), but none in Ferndale. The leaves of my plants are also slightly differently shaped.

Now that it is warm, I can confirm that, yes, this afternoon Korbel has a whiff of that cherry scent of LP and Ferndale does not..