Paul de Longpre was a really big deal in Southern CA, in his day.
He built a lovely lovely home, and surrounded it with an extraordinary rose garden, and he often opened the gates and allowed people to come in and enjoy the roses.

What would I get if I wanted roses that looked like the ones De Lonpre grew? I would grow Tea Roses (which are in any case the easiest and most bloomiferous roses I can grow where I live, AND some of the very early Hybrid Tea Roses.

Which is in fact pretty much what De Longpre grew.

(FWIW, the De Lonpre home and garden are long gone. Which I think is a real pity.)

Jeri

I would say "Betty", an early Hybrid Tea that I bought last Fall from Vintage Gardens. I have just had her two first blooms, and my fingers itch to paint every time I look at them. You will have to paint quickly, though, as she moves through her stages pretty fast. She has that lovely folded look that a lot of Teas have, and her coloration is wonderful - a warm light-pink with washes of cream, and if you have the sun behind her, there is a beautiful warm golden glow that suffuses the pink/cream. A good sized bloom and very nice foliage, too. She's a bit on the blowsy side, but I like that. She reminds me of old-fashioned face cream, don't ask me why. I plan to paint her myself, as soon as a calm spot in my life coincides with one of her blooms.

Laura

I love the first rose picture----You will get some good suggestions for roses here---

I will be watching this post to get some ideas also---

Florence

Thanks for the interesting history, Jeri, and the clue of what direction to look. Oh, that is sad. Here he is in his garden:

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Laura, oh boy, a kindred spirit! Thanks -- I just looked up your "Betty" and ooo lala! I can sure see why you flipped for her, as she definitely has the right look. Do you do watercolor, oils, or acrylics? What does "blowsy" mean? Do you have any idea if she is high or low maintenance? They sure don't give you much information on that web site. Maybe with her short lifespan you can make good use of your camera. How large are her blooms? How tall does she get? What's her blooming season? It says her scent is light... can you smell her? Is it true that the more scent the higher the upkeep?

Any other ideas, anyone?

Florence, I wish!

Oceanna -

I looked "Betty" up on helpmefind.com. They don't have many photos of her, but in their description they say she is pretty disease-resistant. I'm guessing low-maintenance. I've been told that with the early Hybrid Teas, you should think of them as needing similar treatment as what you would do for the parent they most resemble, and "Betty" very definitely (so far) resembles a Tea, so I am treating her like a Tea - that is little or no pruning (I wouldn't anyway, having learned the hard way that pruning is a no-no with new little roses). I live in Sacramento, CA, so I have a much hotter and drier climate than you do, but if she is disease-resistant, you shouldn't need to worry too much, I would think. As to scent, I find her scent to be not intense, but quite lovely - I can't handle the really intense ones, anyway. Her blooms (and I have only had two, so far) are pretty big for this little bush - I would say at least 4", maybe a little more. The leaves are kind of large and rounded - dark green, and make a nice background for the bloom.

Actually, Vintage Gardens gives you quite a bit of information about each rose. They tell you the general size ("Betty" is listed as #1, which means a small bush), the strength of the scent, the repeat (or not), and so on. If you start with the first page of the Hybrid Tea section, it will run over these items for you, to introduce you to the various size, each size shown with a little line drawing that gives you an idea of the size and shape of that group. And the codes for fragrance, size, etc., will be explained to you.

I am working in watercolor these days, although some years back I worked solely in acrylics. Watercolor seems a LOT trickier, but I am enjoying it.

And "blowsy" means a little disheveled, a bit unkempt, but in a charming way. Well, it doesn't ALWAYS mean in a charming way, but when I use it for a rose I mean charming.

Organic, thanks so much for looking her up! She's a beauty and I had no idea her blossoms were so big. I'm in the Seattle area where we rain all the time. I read an article the other day that said other than the Austins, we should avoid the "too many petal" types because they can mildew here. So Betty seems just fine for here from that standpoint.

I have NO idea what "A" and "B" mean when tacked onto a zone. Do you? I also am not sure if I should bother to even think about roses that are posted by folks a couple of numbers or better off from me zone-wise.

Thanks for telling me more about how to read Vintage Gardens' descriptions. :) Ah, I see about blowsy, thanks.

My last few years I've been doing acrylic craft paints. I used to have oils but they got really old and I think I tossed 'em. I'm tempted to buy some tube acrylics. I never did understand watercolor. It runs all over the place and not necessarily where I want it to. But worse than that, the papers came off the board all warped and wouldn't flatten -- so I gave up. That was years ago. I admire you if you can do them. I should prolly go take a class.

I was hoping more folks would make suggestions. :(

I would say La France, but is so badly diseased in CA, I can't imagine what it would be like in Seattle. What about the china rose Hermosa?

Thanks, Nastarana! It's hard for me to tell, as I look up the pictures and they look all sorts of different ways. Like look at these pictures of the Hermosa. I guess part of that is the camera taking it, and then there's lighting, and then there's at what point they catch the bloom.

So I'm asking people who may have the roses. Do you have those? I know I don't want diseases, of course.

I'm thinking maybe the above roses are one and a halfs, not doubles? Just guessing. I'd hoped this would be easier. I'm beginning to think the word "easy" and roses don't belong in the same sentence.

Oceanna, there's one thing I should tell you about Betty: Her blooms "nod", as most Teas do. That means they are sort of looking at the ground instead of at you. This doesn't bother me a bit, as I know the bush will get bigger - but if you are painting, you might need to put the pot up on a table so you can really see the blooms (you'll need to have the rose in a pot, and maybe a second, bigger pot later on, for the first year. Vintage has a page where they discuss what to do with your new rose plants). I should also tell you that Betty doesn't die rapidly, she just gets full-blown pretty quickly. But then she hangs around for quite a while, looking at the ground and being lovely (though blowsy).

Of course, it doesn't have to be Betty - Jeri's advice about getting one of the Tea Roses is really good advice. She's a VERY knowledgeable lady.

I think your idea of getting tube acrylics is a good one - they'll do much better for you. And you have NAILED the definition of watercolor. One artist friend of mine asked me if I had any other "thrill-seeker" habits...

Best of luck with your project! I say give the rose thing a try, otherwise you'll never know.

Laura