These roses reveal the simple, single form of their relatives: apples, raspberries, strawberries, and peaches. Over the years, they may have been crossed or manipulated by breeders to get bigger blooms or unusual colors. But as a group they are valued primarily for the simplicity of their graceful five-petaled flowers.
With their wrinkled (rugose) leaves, this is the rugged class most of us think of as wild beach roses. In fact, the free-blooming species came from Asia and was selected by breeders to add hardiness to cold-tender European hybrids.
They were called tea roses because the first varieties were often shipped across the ocean on vessels involved in the tea trade with Asia.
These scaled-down hybrids, which came to prominence in the 1930s, are the lapdogs of the rose world. There is a dazzling range of colors and shapes; many are less than a foot or so tall and have diminutive flowers and leaves.
In the 19th century, HPs were the height of fashion with their large, full flowers that would have looked right at home on a lady's dress or hat. These hybrids were also loved for their repeat blooms (a great novelty for roses of that time).