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ROSES IN
ALBERTA/SASKATCHEWAN
SUMMER OF
2004
By Arnold Pittao
In
contrast to the drought that the prairies experienced over the past several
years, 2004 proved to be the opposite - there was more than average
precipitation across most of the two provinces, with some local
exceptions. What was different also
was the absence of heat-units. July
and August had more cool days and cloud cover than is normal for that
period. As a result, many plants did
not receive the normal long, hot days of summer that we experience and hence
did not develop as fully or as timely as normal.
With
the increased humidity came some problems with the roses. Diseases are of course more rampant under
these conditions and both blackspot and powdery mildew manifested themselves
at various times.
However,
it was the unusually cold spring and unusually cold and wet September that
brought out the diseases in full force.
The Saskatchewan Rose Society's show, held the first week in
July,
netted no tender roses other than minis since it had simply been too
cold. On the other hand, blooms of
heritage roses abounded, some of which are seldom seen in the show because
they are normally finished blooming by the beginning of July.
At
the other end of the year, the beginning of October still sees a number of
shrub roses in bloom. Some have been
lost to frost but others are still showing their colours. Hybrid teas did well in the middle of
August, again far later than normal.
Our travels around the
provinces this year warrant a few comments:
1) Brooks, AB
- Public garden at the Crop Diversification Centre South - This rose garden
has been in existence for several decades and sports one of the better
collections of heritage roses on the prairies. We made a special trip
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from
Lloydminster
to see the rose gardens in July(a 650mile return trip). And what a pleasure it was. The gardens looked better than they had for
a decade. It wasn't until I read an
article in Roses-Canada upon my return that I discovered the reason - a local
group seems to have taken an interest in restoring the gardens. Although there is still much work to do,
the shrubs themselves looked great. I
particularly wanted to get there this year because we had such a late
spring/summer on the prairies that I felt some of the once-blooming roses would
still be in bloom which I often miss because we don't get there until
July. And I wasn't wrong. I obtained photos of many that are normally
finished with their blooming period by this time. Lydia and I spent the better part
of a day in the garden (despite the heavy infestation of mosquitoes) and
catalogued every rose plant therein.
All 170 roses are now listed in my database along with parentage,
condition, comments, and photos (where available).
A
very worthwhile trip!
2) The Patterson Gardens
- University of Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. These public gardens hold a number of
heritage roses which are worth observing.
In this garden there is no care and no additional water supplied. The beds are nicely mulched so weed
competition is minimal. There needs to
be some re-planting as specimens have died over the years. The remainder of the garden is worth
observing too as there are hundreds of specimens over about a 50 year
period representing many trees and
shrubs, both proven cultivars, and trial varieties at this site.
….Continued on Pg 14
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