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BRIEF HISTORY OF CANADIAN HARDY ROSES
By Ethel Freeman
(Written for the WFRS Triennial Report on Roses 2000)
By Ethel Freeman
(Written for the WFRS Triennial Report on Roses 2000)
Canada is a vast country - the second largest in the world after Russia. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific in the west and from the 49th parallel in the south to the Arctic Sea in the north, covering an area of 9,976,140 square km (3,851,809 square miles.) Naturally, a wide range of climatic conditions exists in such a huge country. In the most temperate area, the southwest coast of British Columbia, winter temperatures hover around 0ºC (32ºF), with a lot of rain, and summers also tend to be quite mild. The Prairies, in the middle of the country, have more extreme weather. Winter temperatures are regularly -20ºC (-4ºF) and have been known to plunge to -45 to -50ºC (-49 to -58ºF), but there is usually a good snow cover. The summers are very sunny and dry and temperatures can soar into the 40s centigrade (100s Fahrenheit.) Conditions in the rest of the country fall somewhere in between, except of course, in the arctic north.
The rose species native to Canada are: Rosa acicularis, R. arkansana, R. blanda, R. carolina, R. nitida, R. nutkana, R. palustris, R. pisocarpa, R. setigera, R. woodsii and R. virginiana. The early French settlers brought Albas, gallicas and damasks to Canada in the 1600s. In the 1700s the centifolias and mosses were introduced, and since then each wave of newcomers has brought the popular roses of the day with them. Today we grow all types of roses, but our climate often makes it quite difficult. For instance, laboratory tests have shown that most Hybrid Teas show cane injury at -12ºC (11ºF) and plant failure at -23ºC (-10ºF). This gives the majority of Canadians four options: move to southern British Columbia; grow Hybrid Teas as annuals; cover the bushes extremely well each fall; grow hardy roses.
Until recently, the only roses that did NOT require winter protection were non-repeat flowering cultivars developed from very hardy wild species, some Old Garden Roses and a few double flowered hybrids of R. rugosa. So for many years we have dreamt of finding a perfectly formed rose that blooms all summer, is fragrant and disease resistant and yet is truly winter hardy. We certainly haven't found it yet, but some very interesting hardy roses have been hybridized in Canada.
While some private individuals and nurseries have made contributions, the Research Branch of Agriculture Canada has done most of the breeding of Canadian hardy roses. In general, rose breeding by Agriculture Canada has occurred in two separate locations - in the east at the Experimental Farm in Ottawa (and later at L'Assomption, Quebec) and on the Prairies at the Experimental Farm in Morden, Manitoba. Each location used a different breeding line and produced a separate series of roses; the Explorer Roses from Ottawa and the Parkland roses from the Prairies. So the most logical way to look at Canadian hardy roses is to look at the roses produced in each location.
In 1886, the Canadian government established a system of experimental farms and began a program of breeding and testing hardy roses and other ornamental plants. Dr. William Saunders, the first director, made a number of crosses between hardy Shrub roses at the Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa. One cross, made in 1900 between a hybrid of R. rugosa and R. foetida persiana resulted in the hardy, once flowering yellow Shrub 'Agnes'. From 1920 to the 1940s hardy roses and other ornamental plants continued to be bred at Ottawa by Miss Isabella Preston. She released about 20 hardy Shrub roses, mostly non-repeat bloomers named for Canadian Indian tribes, but only a few can still be found in commerce.
When Miss Preston retired the hardy rose breeding program at Ottawa was suspended and it did not resume until the 1960s under Dr. Felicitas Svejda. Dr. Svejda initiated the "Explorer" series of hardy Shrub roses. She chose to name the roses after Canadian explorers in the hope that they would prove as tough and versatile as their namesakes had been. The Explorer Roses fall into two categories. Although some owe their genes to several species, most are either simple or complex Rosa rugosa hybrids or they are hybrids that use Rosa kordesii. The crosses with Rosa kordesii have resulted in many pillar-type roses that grow as vigorous shrubs and can be used as climbers.
 'EXPLORER'
Varieties (in order of their release)(Click on the variety name to see a picture of
the rose)
|
| MARTIN
FROBISHER(1968) - a very hardy,
vigorous, upright rose that suckers freely, flowers well and is relatively
disease free. The blush pink blooms are semi-double and slightly fragrant,
but the bush habit is very open and sparse.
(Martin Frobisher led three voyages in the 1570s in
the search for a Northwest passage to Asia.) |
| JENS MUNK(1974) - a rugosa hybrid with an upright arching form. The blooms are semi-double, pure medium pink and fragrant. It flowers freely in June, has an excellent flush in the fall and some bloom in between. It may get some mildew, but it is one of the hardiest Explorers and one of the best rugosas. (Jens Munk was a Danish explorer who also tried to find a Northwest passage through Hudson's Bay in 1619. Only he and two others out of a crew of 64 survived the winter there.) |
| HENRY HUDSON(1976) - a dense, relatively low growing rugosa hybrid with good foliage. The pink buds open to semi-double white flowers. There are masses of bloom but they don't drop cleanly. (After failing to find a polar route to Asia in 1607 or 1608, Henry Hudson sailed the Hudson River in 1609. In 1610 he sailed through Hudson Strait into James Bay and opened a sea route to North America's interior. After a hard winter, his crew mutinied and set him adrift, and he was never heard from again.) |
| JOHN CABOT(1978) - a very thorny, large arching kordesii hybrid that can be used as a climber. The double flowers are dark orchid-pink. Although not as hardy as 'William Baffin', it has 2 main flushes of bloom, but repeats much better if grown in full sun and fed well. (John Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1497 was the beginning of British colonization of the New World.) |
| DAVID THOMPSON(1979) - a rugosa hybrid which forms a large round shrub. The blooms are semi-double, deep mauve-pink with some white streaks toward the center. The flowers lack form but repeat bloom is excellent. (In 1811, David Thompson, a partner in the North West Company, found the Columbia River and thus connected the company's trade route from east of the Rockies to the Pacific.) |
| JOHN FRANKLIN(1980) - a small shrub with dark foliage and continuous bloom. The flowers are semi-double with dark red frilly petals. Very susceptible to blackspot and more tender than most Explorers. (After two successful mapping expeditions in the central Arctic, John Franklin, one of the most famous arctic explorers, sailed into Lancaster Sound in 1845 and vanished.) |
| CHAMPLAIN(l982) - a small shrub which shows its Floribunda heritage in its masses of bloom. The semi-double flowers are deep red and repeat profusely all season. It is one of the most popular Explorers but also one of the least hardy, often killing to the ground in severe winters. And it does get mildew. (Samuel de Champlain is considered the father of New France. Among his other accomplishments was the founding of the first successful settlement in Canada at Quebec in 1608.) |
| CHARLES ALBANEL(1982) - a low growing, very hardy rugosa hybrid with deep pink, double, fragrant flowers that repeat very well. An excellent short shrub that should be grown more. (Charles Albanel, a Jesuit priest and missionary, was the first European to travel overland to Hudson's Bay. He reached there in 1672 after being sent to investigate rumors of French speaking Europeans in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company.) |
| WILLIAM BAFFIN(1983) - the most vigorous and one of the hardiest Explorers. Its upright form allows it to be used as a climber or a dense shrub, but it must be well fed to perform at its best. The semi-double, bright pink blooms are produced prolifically all season. (William Baffin was a genius in nautical astronomy and on his last voyage in Arctic waters he reached a latitude that went unequaled for the next 236 years.) |
| HENRY KELSEY(1984) - a kordesii hybrid with semi-double, dark red flowers with showy yellow stamens. It blooms prolifically but the lower leaves may blackspot. Although one of the few dark red climbers, this rose has hardiness problems in the coldest areas. (Henry Kelsey joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1684 and was their first inland explorer.) |
| ALEXANDER MACKENZIE(l985) - a vigorous arching shrub with soft red, fragrant blooms and healthy foliage, except for a little blackspot on the lower leaves. It is relatively hardy but may suffer some dieback in very cold areas. It is a lovely rose but only has two flushes of bloom. (Alexander Mackenzie, a trader and explorer, made two remarkable expeditions. First he followed a great river, now called the Mackenzie, from Great Slave Lake in the hope that it would lead to the Pacific, but instead it flowed into the Arctic Ocean. In 1793 he followed the Peace River westward and eventually did reach the Pacific, becoming the first person to cross North America north of Mexico.) |
| JOHN DAVIS(1986) - a vigorous arching plant with healthy foliage that can used as a climber if well fed. The medium pink, lightly fragrant flowers repeat all season and look like 'Bonica' but the plant is far hardier, surviving temperatures of -35ºC (-31ºF) with no damage. This is one of the most important Explorer roses. (In 1587 John Davis discovered the strait, now named for him, between Canada and Greenland.) |
| J.P. CONNELL(1987) - the first yellow hardy rose from the Explorer program. The pale lemon yellow buds fade to cream as they open. This rose is very slow to become established and young plants generally only have one flush of mediocre blooms. Older plants (3-4 years old) gradually improve in both flower quality and amount of bloom. This is a very tough rose, but it needs a lot of patience. |
| CAPTAIN SAMUEL HOLLAND(1992) - a vigorous kordesii hybrid with long, arching shoots that can be used as a pillar or climber. The clusters of deep pink flowers start with Hybrid Tea form but open flat. The plant is extremely healthy and hardy and it repeats well. (Samuel Holland was appointed Surveyor-General of Quebec and northern North America and carried out the first surveys of Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton in 1765-67.) |
| FRONTENAC(1992) - this compact shrub has semi-double, medium pink flowers with white at the base of the petals. It is very floriferous, very healthy, very hardy and makes an excellent small specimen. (Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac was made Governor-General of New France in 1672 and again in 1689. Through his interest in the fur trade he gave France a large territorial empire in the New World.) |
| LOUIS JOLLIET(1992) - a large shrub with long thorny canes. The plant blooms profusely and the double, deep pink decorative flowers appear in clusters along the stems. Plant growth seems a bit slower than other Explorers, but it is very hardy. (Born in Quebec, Louis Jolliet left the priesthood to become a fur trader. In 1673 he, Father Marquette and 5 others traveled far enough south on the Mississippi River to determine that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and not into the Pacific Ocean.) |
| SIMON FRASER(1992) - a small, sprawling shrub with glossy leaves and salmon pink flowers. Often a young bush produces single flowers but as the plant matures they have several more petals. Seems prone to mildew and blackspot. (In 1805-1807 Simon Fraser opened fur-trading posts in the interior of present day British Columbia. In 1808 he traveled down the treacherous river, now called the Fraser, to the Pacific.) |
| GEORGE VANCOUVER(1994) - semi-double, decorative dark red blooms become pink with age and repeat well all season. Some say this is a compact shrub and others say it puts out long arching branches. (George Vancouver accompanied James Cook on his second voyage to the South Seas and on his third voyage to the Northwest coast of America. In 1792 he negotiated the Spanish surrender at Nootka, and then spent the next 3 years producing superb charts of the northwest coast of America.) |
| LAMBERT CLOSSE(1995) - a small bush. The coral pink blooms fade to light pink and are very double, with quilled petals and some fragrance. They have the best form of any of the Explorer roses and repeat bloom is excellent. The plant may experience some winter kill but will regrow. (Lambert Closse was the Seigneur of the area around the present-day St. Lambert, Quebec.) |
| ROYAL EDWARD(1995) - a very low, spreading, hardy bush that some say can be used as a groundcover. The semi-double, miniature-size, medium pink flowers fade to a light pink, but repeat quickly all season. |
| QUADRA(1995) - a velvety red rose with very double blooms that look like a cross between a gallica and a Hybrid Tea. They have a light fragrance, bloom in clusters and repeat well all season. The plant is disease free and hardy and can be used as a climber. (Bodega y Quadra was the Spanish Commissioner who negotiated with George Vancouver for the return of Nootka to British hands.) |
| NICOLAS(1996) - a very floriferous, compact plant with medium red flowers. |
| DE MONTARVILLE(1997) - the red buds become medium pink, semi-double flowers with good substance and good repeat. Very hardy. (de Montarville was the Seigneur of the area around the present-day St. Bruno, Quebec.) |
| MARIE-VICTORIN(1998) - the buds and newly opened flowers are pale peach, an unusual colour in a hardy rose. (Frère Marie-Victorin was a Professor of Botany at the University of Montreal from 1920 and took part in the founding of the Montreal Botanical Garden.) |
| WILLIAM BOOTH(1999) - the last rose in the Explorer series. The single, red flowers have white eyes and repeat well. The bush is quite vigorous and can be used as a pillar. In fact, it almost looks like a hardier, repeat flowering 'American Pillar'.(William Booth was the founder and first General of the Salvation Army.) |
On a brighter note, the other, parallel track of government rose breeding in Canada is continuing. Established in 1915, the Morden Research Centre on the Prairies has become the major centre for both crop and ornamental plant breeding for western Canada. In the 1940's, they released a number of hardy non-repeat blooming roses as part of the "Prairie" series. These were further developed to produce the repeat blooming 'Prairie Youth'(1948), one of the first continuous blooming Shrub roses hardy in the plains region of Canada without winter protection.
In addition, a few pioneer nurserymen in parts of the Prairies made attempts to develop improved winter hardy roses by crossing imported cultivars with some of the hardy wild species. For example, 'Therese Bugnet', hybridized by Georges Bugnet, is a very hardy repeat flowering pink double rose with a complex pedigree involving R. rugosa and the native species R. blanda. It has been widely grown in many of the colder regions of Canada and other parts of the world since its release in 1950.
The Morden rose breeding program really came into its own under the direction of Dr. Henry Marshall, who introduced the present "Parkland" series with 'Assiniboine' in 1962. It was a deep pink semi-double repeat blooming Shrub originating from a cross between the Floribunda 'Donald Prior' and the native prairie rose, R. arkansana. The key to the development of the 'Parkland' group by Dr. Marshall was Rosa arkansana, a native prairie tetraploid rose. This plant tolerates the hot dry summers and extreme cold found on the Prairies and is recurrent, with blooms produced on both older and new growth. Rust really loves 'Assiniboine' and so it is no longer grown in gardens very often. However, it was a significant and important step in the development of a hardy ever-blooming, dwarf shrub rose.
As the Parkland breeding program progressed, a variety of cultivars and species in addition to R. arkansana were used to broaden the genetic base of the program as well as incorporate new floral, vegetative and other characteristics. For example, Dr. Buck's 'Prairie Princess' (a cultivar with both Rosa laxa and Rosa spinossisima in its background) was used extensively.
| 'PARKLAND'
roses (in order of introduction) (Click
on the variety name to see a picture of the rose)
|
| ASSINIBOINE(1962) - (The Assiniboine are a Plains Indian tribe.) |
| CUTHBERT GRANT(1967) - has 'Crimson Glory' in its pedigree. It blooms in late June-early July and then again in late summer. It is hardy in the southern parts of the Prairies. (Cuthbert Grant was a founder of the Metis Nation.) |
| ADELAIDE HOODLESS(1973) - about 1 m (39 inches) high and resembles a red Floribunda. It blooms profusely in late June and early July and then sporadically throughout the summer, with a slightly heavier flush in September. (Adelaide Hoodless founded the first Women's Institute in 1857 and devoted herself to the education of women for motherhood and household management.) |
| MORDEN AMORETTE(1977) - a compact shrub rose about .5 m (20 inches) high. It has dark pink to light red flowers and continues to bloom all season if deadheaded. It does blackspot and may be killed to the snowline in the winter, but will regrow in the spring and the flowers come from the current season's growth. |
| MORDEN RUBY(1977) - a ruby red bush which is a sport of a red and pink speckled bush that was never introduced, and occasionally it reverts back to the speckled variety. It grows to about 1 m (39 inches), is very hardy but blooms mostly in 2 flushes. |
| MORDEN CARDINETTE(1980) - a short, fairly everblooming shrub (about .3 m or 12 inches) with medium red, semi-double blooms that come singly or in clusters. However, many of them don't seem to ever open fully. Like Morden Amorette, it may be killed to the snowline in winter but will regrow and bloom on new growth. |
| MORDEN CENTENNIAL(1980) - a very hardy, medium pink, semi-double rose that grows to about 1m (39 inches) and is lightly scented. It blooms continuously if kept deadheaded. |
| MORDEN BLUSH(1988) - my personal favorite! This variety grows anywhere from .6m to 1.5m (2-5 feet), depending on the location. The flowers are usually ivory with a pink blush in the center, but in cool weather the whole flower will be pink. The very full blooms open flat and hold their form for a good 10-14 days. And they are produced in wave after wave all season. Hardiness is excellent. Its only faults are a bit of blackspot and lack of fragrance. |
| MORDEN FIREGLOW(1989) - a novel color in hardy roses, a glowing scarlet red, but it flowers mainly at the end of June and then only intermittently until frost and it balls in wet weather. However, it does have a slight fragrance and is very hardy. |
| PRAIRIE JOY(1990) - medium pink double blooms in clusters on a bush that produces long, arching shoots. It was released as a hedge rose. The plant is very dense, very disease free, and extremely hardy, but it seems to have very little repeat bloom. |
| WINNIPEG PARKS(1990) - a great rose, very hardy with a bush habit similar to a Floribunda. The dark pink (almost red) semidouble flowers doesn't last long individually, but the colour is luminous and the flowers just keep coming and coming all season long. One of the prettiest, most carefree, hardiest garden roses, next to Morden Blush, that I grow. (Named in honour of the centennial of the City of Winnipeg Parks and Recreation Department.) |
| HOPE FOR HUMANITY(1995) - this compact shrub has dark red decorative blooms that have excellent substance and appear in clusters. The first flowers are from buds on canes that have overwintered. The bush then continues to bloom for the next 10-14 weeks on this year's growth. In very cold areas there may be a small amount of winterkill. (Named in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Red Cross.) |
|
(The Morden Research Center
is now focusing on white and yellow flower colours.) |
| MORDEN SUNRISE(2000) - their first yellow rose. |
Both the Parkland and the Explorer roses root easily from cuttings and should be grown on their own roots. In fact, 'Parkland' roses budded or grafted on rootstocks have not performed well at Morden while "own root" plants seem to have a long and productive life. If you receive a plant that has been grafted, plant it with the graft 7.5-8 cm (3-3.5 inches) below the surface of the soil so that the plant will eventually develop its own roots.
All new roses released by Agriculture Canada are supposed to meet a number of criteria. These are: survival with minimum damage when grown without winter protection, adequate floral quality, the ability to perform well on their own roots and to be propagated from cuttings, and adequate resistance to blackspot and powdery mildew. While one or two of these characteristics can be easily achieved, combining all four can be difficult, and they haven't yet produced that ideal rose. But Agriculture Canada has given us many good, everblooming roses that can be easily grown in a cold climate.
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