In torgo wrote:
I'll have to look into the legality of having it sent to an
intermediary destination (England or Italy, perhaps) and then from
there to here. Or maybe I'll just have to take up hybridizing and
spend the rest of my life trying to create my own...

I think you might be able to find La Passionata in England, torgo. It's
certainly mentioned on the Peter Beales site, as I recall.

And as for 6" blooms being the small ones, that's a little bit
exaggerated - although nearly all of the blooms ARE 6" plus when fully
blown. It's definitely the largest red bloom I've ever seen, and one of
the most fragrant. It's a nice healthy bush too, with very large
foliage and very thick stems.