'La France' is considered to be the first Hybrid Tea. In Italy, they're called
Ibride de tea, in France
Hybrides de Thé.
[From Phillips & Rix, The Quest for the Rose, p. 112:] The first Hybrid Teas were formed by crossing two existing groups of roses: the robust and rather coarse Hybrid Perpetuals and the delicate Teas. The earliest roses of this parentage were not immediately hailed as a new race. 'Victor Verdier', a large, bright pink rose raised by François Lacharme in Lyon in 1859 from 'Jules Margottin' (a Hybrid Perpetual) x 'Safrano' (a Tea), is still classed as a Hybrid Perpetual. 'La France', said to be a seedling of 'Mme. Falcot', an orange-yellow Tea, is now generally considered the first Hybrid Tea. However, it was a stray seedling and some authorities have considered a more likely parentage to be 'Mme. Victor Verdier' (a red Hybrid Perpetual) x 'Mme. Bravy' (a pale blush Tea). Hybrid Teas were first recognized as a class in 1880 as a result of the pioneering work of Henry Bennett, who applied breeding principles he had learnt with cattle to roses. The early Hybrid Teas were direct crosses between Hybrid Perpetuals and Teas, but from about 1898 began to be raised from crosses within the group.
[From Gardening with Roses, by Judith McKeon, p. 35:] Elegant, urn-shaped buds open into large, full, high-centered flowers carried on long stems. Garden cultivars produce flowers continuously from late spring through frost, and bushes typically grow 3 to 6 feet (1 to 1.8 m) tall in an upright habit. Represented by more than seven thousand cultivars, the hybrid tea is the world's favorite rose for exhibition and florist use, and it is the progenitor of several other major modern classes.
[From Roses, by Eleonore Cruse, p. 10:] Since the mid-twentieth century [they] have constituted almost all the roses grown under glass for sale as cut flowers.
[From The Practical Book of Outdoor Rose Growing..., by George C. Thomas, p. 37:] About 1890, owing to its longer period of bloom, the Hybrid Tea had pushed the Hybrid Perpetual out of first place in popularity, and from that time on has held sway as the premier class... today [the author was writing in 1915] there is no question about their being the best outdoor garden variety...
[From Peter Schneider on Roses, by Peter Schneider, p. 1:] A hybrid tea rose should grow and bloom well in its first season and reach peak production in its second year. With good culture, a hybrid tea can be expected to remain productive for fifteen to twenty years... The typical hybrid tea will recycle its bloom in seven to eight weeks, taking less time in hot weather and more time in cool...
[From Roses of America, by Stephen Scanniello and Tania Bayard, p. 86:] Some people believe that 'Victor Verdier', created by Francois Lacharme in 1859, was the original hybrid tea, but the rose generally accepted as being the first is 'La France', raised by Jean-Baptiste Guillot in Lyons, France, in 1867... Hybrid tea roses combined the large globular flowers of the hybrid perpetuals, which have short stems, and the elegant long stems of the tea roses... [by 1918] at flower shows, they were the most popular class... Hybrid Teas flower best on new growth, and they must be severely pruned at the beginning of the growing season to promote strong new canes that will produce large flowers on long stems as well as good rebloom. In general, the closer to the ground they are cut, the more vigorous the new growth and the larger the flowers.
[From an advertisement in the American Rose Annual 1927, p. xxii:] Robert Evans Hughes, Rose Specialist, Williamsville, New York... Pernetianas [are] much superior when budded on 'Gloire des Rosomanes' stock. This distinction is quite noticeable in the Roses 'Los Angeles' and 'Souvenir de Claudius Pernet'... Our Hybrid Perpetual and Hybrid Tea Roses are budded on Japanese Multiflora stock.
[From Origin of Rose Types, by Roy Shepherd, p. 34-35:] 'Adam' (or 'President')... salmon-pink... the first of the so-called tea rose family... ['Adam'] and 'Mme. Bravy' ('Alba Rosea' or 'Mme. Sertot') and 'Mme. St. Joseph' were primarily greenhouse roses but were used extensively in the breeding of the early hybrid teas which were the result of crosses between this class [Tea Roses] and the hybrid perpetuals... Authorities differ as to whether 'La France' or 'Cheshunt Hybrid' was the first hybrid tea... Henry Bennett should be credited with producing the best of the early true hybrid tea types... it was not until about 1890 that [Hybrid Teas] were recognized as a class. Previous to that time members were placed in the hybrid perpetual or tea groups... 'Gustav Regis' [sic] (1890) was the first good yellow [Hybrid Tea], 'Meteor' (1887) was the first [good] red [Hybrid Tea] and 'Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria' (1891) the first good white [Hybrid Tea]... to increase the color range, Pernet-Ducher, in 1900 added R. foetida ('Persian Yellow') to the blood stream...
[From The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book, p. 139:] In 1859 'Victor Verdier' appeared, and this has sometimes been called the first Hybrid Tea. From this and 'La France', raised in 1867, a small group of varieties were raised, carrying strong Tea influence into the Hybrid Perpetuals.
[From The Makers of Heavenly Roses, p. 28:] In the spring of 1880, [Henry] Bennett was invited to a meeting of the Horticultural Society of Lyon... [they] declared that a new class [of roses] existed, and that it should be called Hybrides de The...
[Ibid, pp. 28-29: Hybrides de Thé as a class was] adopted in France [and by several UK rose growers, however the National Rose Society was slow to jump on board...] After much argument, the Society adopted the Hybrid Tea class in 1893...
