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"Stiff Lady Roberts" rose Reviews & Comments
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Re the 2020 reference: I may have been mistaken about the hip, thinking of the true Lady Roberts/Anna Olivier.
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Does anyone, eg in New Zealand, have a hip photo of this rose? I'd like one for a booklet on Mystery Teas in Aus. Thanks,
Margaret
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From the description page: 'The scent becomes unpleasant as the flower ages.'
I haven't noticed that on mine. The scent just fades, but doesn't seem to get unpleasant as such. It starts to smell more like vegetation than 'floral' the more it fades, but it's not what I would call unpleasant.
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Take a look at the 1926 Hazlewood reference for 'Souvenir of Stella Gray'.
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OK, that's definitely not what mine does. No trace of carnation/clove as the bloom ages, or not that I have noticed. Mine seems to go more like lawn clippings. The rose/Tea/floral notes fade out, and it just smells like vegetation.
Although it is interesting that SoSG is supposed to have mildew-proof foliage. There has been quite a bit of milge rampaging around my place recently, but I haven't noticed any on Lady Roberts's stiff. Will take another look tomorrow.
(I can't help thinking that Stiff Lady Roberts is an unfortunate choice of study name.)
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#3 of 6 posted
14 AUG 21 by
 HubertG
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"(I can't help thinking that Stiff Lady Roberts is an unfortunate choice of study name.)"
I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking that! :-D
On a more serious note, the more references I read about 'Souvenir Of Stella Gray', the more it seems to me to match "Stiff Lady Roberts", or at least there isn't anything in the references to serious contradict such an identity.
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I have a vague memory of a conversation that when the tea ladies first saw this rose at Ruston’s labelled ‘Lady Roberts’. someone commented something like “stiff cheddar” on the impertinence of this incorrect labelling.
Adding Stiff before the name allowed one to distinguish the correct and the incorrect 'Lady Roberts'.
HubertG, I am fairly convinced too, but we need to sit and wait for others to add their thoughts. I have put a Note in both the "Stiff Lady Roberts" and 'Souvenir of Stella Gray' files.
Back to retirement and the pruning.
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#5 of 6 posted
15 AUG 21 by
HubertG
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Thanks, Patricia. Even though I do think that 'Souvenir of Stella Gray' is the most likely contender for "Stiff Lady Roberts" true identity, I'd hate for anyone to start calling it that, in case it isn't.
I do want to return to Rookwood after the covid lockdown and reassess this orange foundling Tea growing there, as going by my memory of it and looking at the photos of "Stiff Lady Roberts", I don't think they are the same rose, and there were never too many orange Teas.
Lastly, I found the following 1939 newspaper article interesting. From the 'Townsville Daily Bulletin' 21 Feb. 1939, page 5:
"ROSES OF MANY YEARS AGO. [...] There is before the writer a rose catalogue of 1915.[...] Tea roses were once grown extensively, but of the 40 varieties listed, only Lady Hillingdon, Mrs. Herbert Stevens and occasionally Souv. de Stella Gray are asked for today."
It goes to show that 'Souvenir of Stella Gray' must have had enough appealing qualities to survive the classical Tea period in the company of those other two great survivors.
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Apparently that story of the study name is urban myth. A pity, it's a good story.
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Maybe this might be 'Souvenir of Stella Gray', the Tea from Dickson,1907??
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It certainly could be HubertG. I will add a few references tomorrow.
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#2 of 2 posted
13 AUG 21 by
HubertG
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The 1907 reference for 'Souvenir of Stella Gray' from 'Gardening Illustrated' mentions purple stems and handsome dark foliage something which seems to match "Stiff Lady Roberts". That reference also calls it a Hybrid Tea, although 'Souvenir of Stella Gray' is usually classed as a Tea, so perhaps it was a HT with a lot of Tea blood. In any case, the photos of "Stiff Lady Roberts" do seem to show some characteristics of both a Tea and a Hybrid Tea. It does look like a lovely rose.
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