Toni...
I am glad you shared why you are doing your survey.
I wasn't going to join this thread simply because age has nothing to do with my choice of roses that I grow in this garden. Maybe the same thing may be true for others.
In my climate, where I get high temps all summer long with low humidity, the petal substance of most ogr classes simply isn't thick enough to survive the heat. Roses I grew in Socal in a more coastal climate, fry to ugly blobs up here.
The classes of roses that have the thicker petal substance are hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas and miniatures and mini-floras. ... the "modern" roses. A very few of the hybrid perpetuals might be able to handle this climate. Not every rose in the modern classes have the thicker petal substance needed, so a study of the plant characteristic is really the determining factor for me.
Just some thoughts about how I have chosen roses for this garden.
Zuzu .. I thought 'La France' was the first HT and was introduced in 1867. Minor detail because there were no other "new" classes of roses before its introduction.
Smiles,
Lyn
