Canadian Shield Roses are part of the ‘49th Parallel Collection‘ and with the wonderful red colour, it is the rose for Canada’s Sesquicentennial celebration.
The people at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in the Niagara region, had been working on this rose for several years.
“It’s got a lot of Canadiana built into it”
Lana Culley, Director of Business Development at Vineland, says there were a few attributes of this rose that led them to launch it, in time for the 150th.
The first thing that stood out, was the very bright red full flower, and lots of them, Culley says.
Listen“In addition to that, because it was bred in Canada, so it was actually bred in Morden, Manitboba originally, it’s very cold-hardy and very disease-resistant to the common rose diseases that we have in Canada” according to Culley.
The inspiration for poems, art, literature, music and love for millenia, there are now more than 60,000 registered cultivars of roses around the world.
The Canadian Shield, specifically bred for the Canadian landscape, began in a long-standing program with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.
Culley explains the cross was made In 2001 and it was under evaluation from then on.
The program was transferred in 2009 to the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association and Vineland.
At Vineland, Culley says they work toward achieving the right mix of cold-hardiness, disease-resistance and visual traits.
Gardeners will appreciate that It’s a repeat bloomer, all through the season into the fall. And it’s low maintenance; the petals fall off automatically, no deadheading necessary.
Lana Culley says the Canadian Shield rose will thrive even in zones with minus 40 degree winters, you won’t have to replant your rose the following year.
Available as far north as Yukon, the plant grows to about three to four feet, or about a metre and a half in height, and spreads out to about a metre in width. Depending on where you buy one, it would retail at about $25 (Cdn).
Culley says one of the goals of the program is to see these roses blooming in northern climates around the world.
“We actually have the roses right now in France for testing, for across Europe and Russia, northern Europe, those kinds of territories. And we also have partners in the U.S. that are testing it for the northern states, Minnesota, North Dakota, places that also have a need for hardy beautiful roses.”
Canadians will be able to see the roses over the summer in landscapes around government buildings. But Vineland will be encouraging those who do invest in the new rose bush, to send in their photos to see how and where it’s taking root across the country, from coast to coast to coast.
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