I haven't grown it personally but seem to remember several negative comments on the forum. Have you tried the search feature for this rose?

Ingrid

It's healthy enough in my garden, blooms like mad, and balls terribly. It doesn't get sun all day so maybe that's an issue, but if it doesn't do better soon, I'm going to dig it up and give it one more chance in the cemetery. Then it's off to the big rose cemetery in the sky.

Vintage alludes to the problem by saying "never seems to open fully," and their photo on-line looks like wadded up brown-edged tissues, just like my flowers.

Too bad, because it's one of the most graceful plants of any of my roses -
Anita

Is Homere a good rose? Nope...not for me And I've sprayed it in the past and its never done much of anything for me but bloom (sorta) sporadically and drop leaves covered with blackspot. To be honest this rose could be facing the shovel soon....I have too many other nice ones and Homere is taking up valuable real estate.

Carole

Homere is one of the few roses I've actually loathed. In my garden, where powdery mildew is a menace, it was one of the worst ever--just white.

Colleen

This one was awful for me as well and I SP'd it a year ago.

Very low/spreading type grower. But, like Clotilde Soupert, it balled and the flowers refused to drop--just clung like balls of dried up brown paper. Also, the flowers were very small for a tea rose, and even though they were described as very fragrant, I detected nothing from them. (And I CAN smell teas).

Let us know how it turns out for you if you decided to give it a try. I would especially be curious to hear if you could smell any fragrance on this one.

Thanks everybody for your honest replies. You saved a rose from a painful death. For this particular spot I've decided to plant SOUVENIR DE LA MALMAISON. It is not a Tea, but fits the color and size requirements.

Patrick:
I would like to suggest that you take a look at the Polyantha, Mrs. R. M. Finch. It is a very nice rose for me and one that I left in my front bed. I will post a pic for you when find my URL for posting link. It is very fragrant...even I can smell it from a distance.

Another one that has survived my shovel pruning is Gruss an Achen, but I think I recommend Finch first choice.

You asked about the fragrance of Duchesse de Auerstadt. I can't smell it, but friends can. It is the most beautiful yellow and is becoming one of my favorites.

JeanC

Before you go for the somewhat finicky and ball-prone SdlM, consider the old Tea Duchesse de Brabant, which fits your description to a T- and is pretty much bulletproof.

I just discovered Duchesse d'Auerstadt and it has a wonderful tea scent to me. It's been a while since I've seen a rose that I felt that I just had to have, but that is my reaction to this one.
Anita