(Dec 2021)  Page(s) 32. Vol 43, No. 4.  
 
Lynne Chapman and Billy West.  A Close Look at Tea Roses
By contrast, Alexander Hill Gray, 1911, has neither a sport, nor an early plate that we have been able to find. And there are none of the detailed botanical descriptions in journals that accompanied the early Teas. Descriptions are usually brief - ‘deep lemon yellow’ or ‘soft yellow, fragrant, double’ - which could apply to many, many roses but we are confident that Alexander Hill Gray is correctly named. It was a popular exhibition rose and grown under glass in cooler climates. Awarded the British National Rose Society’s gold medal soon after its release, it was still being recommended for exhibition purposes in Australia in the 1950s.

When an unnamed, thornless yellow rose was found in an Australian cemetery 30 years later, nurseryman Roy Rumsey was able to identify it as Alexander Hill Gray. Roy had a lot of experience with roses, firstly at the leading Australian rose nursery Hazlewoods when he was very young, then at Hilliers in England and later while training at Kew. Back in Australia he worked for his father for a while and then started a rose nursery with wife Heather. He had handled thousands of plants of the very popular Alexander Hill Gray throughout his career so was delighted to see it again and was able to introduce it back into commerce in Australia in the 1980s.

(Jun 2020)  Page(s) 11.  
 
John Niewesteeg. Greater Melbourne. 
One old rose that always keeps popping up is “Alexandra Pink Tea” / “Isabel Smith”. The Tea ladies from WA, quoted in the summer Journal of 2019 page 26, say that it is no longer thought to be Mme de Tartas (Bernède, 1859). I would like to know why that name isn’t correct. I can find no reason to believe the rose in question is not Mme de Tartas. But I see plenty in the rose to suggest that it is Mme de Tartas. I would like to know what other people think?
I do really like this rose; it always does well for me.
 

(2023)  Page(s) 45. Vol 45, No. 4.  
 
Glennis Clark...Alexandra Pink Tea.   it is growing very well in Mornington resplendent with its distinctive hooked prickles!

(2012)  Page(s) 26. Vol 34, No. 2.  
 
John Nieuwesteeg, the Nieuwesteeg Heritage Rose Garden at Maddingley Park, Bacchus Marsh.
“Alison Madden” From the historic Healesville property of Miss Madden, who was an acquaintance of Alister Clark; the roses may have been unnamed Clark roses.

(1993)  Page(s) 24. Vol 15, No. 3.  
 
Rosemary Thompson, Torquay, Victoria. We had a cutting day at Lesley Stewart’s home near Geelong some years ago and I now have a rose which I believe originated from a cutting swapped that day. I believe it was labelled “Alister Clark No. 10” The bush is a straggly one with flowers very similar in form to Black Boy but without the black overtones, the colour being more scarlet. The bush is not a climber like Black Boy. If anyone can help identify this rose I would be most grateful. .

(2020)  Page(s) 12. Vol 42, No. 4.  Includes photo(s).
 
Alister Stella Gray (Tea-Noisette 1894). Yellow fading white. Clusters of little flowers produced non-stop on a medium to large shrub-climber. Superb spires in autumn.

(2004)  Page(s) 37 Vol 26, No. 4..  
 
Sue and John Zwar. Queensland Hospitality. A beautiful single clear yellow climber, a seedling of Golden Showers, called Alison was bred by Reg Keehn.

(2012)  Page(s) Vol 34, No. 2.  
 
p41 Eric Timewell. Frank Riethmuller’s Niece Elsie:
Most [roses] survived because Elsie took them to Toowoomba….At this point it became all too easy for her to leave behind the humiliation of those roses dedicated to women. At least seven Riethmuller roses of all sorts ‘ Alma’ and…. disappeared from view, in most cases never to be seen again.

p42. ibid. ‘Alma’ was actually named for a racehorse, but Elsie may have believed it had been dedicated to a woman of that name.

(2019)  Page(s) 34. Vol 41, No. 3..  Includes photo(s).
 
Editor. Mystery Teas in Australia.
“Almerta Orchard Pink”, collected Barossa Valley, SA. May also be in Hagley, northern Tasmania. The same as “McClinton Tea” in the USA.  Darker pink at the base of the petals and on the reverses. Flowers semi-double to double, stamens visible in the open blooms. Good winter flowering. Scent is Tea with overtones of Floral Lifesavers (remember them?). Leaves narrow at first, then broaden. Well-armed on new and old wood. Sets many hips. Low to moderate height, spreading.

(2013)  Page(s) 15. Vol 35, No. 3.  
 
Peter D. A. Boyd. The First Scots Roses in Australia.
This list [of Scots Roses in Australia] may not be complete and some of these may be misnamed. For example, "Altaica" is a name given to a rose that I have seen in several New Zealand gardens that is nothing like the true Asian 'Altaica'. Descriptions of so-called 'Altaica' by Australian authors and photographs, make me suspect that the false 'Altaica' is also present in Australia, although the true 'Altaica' was probably imported in 1825.