MY PICK OF BEST ROSES FOR THUNDER BAY

1) Hansa. This rose grows all over town. It is the big bushy guy with the glossy green leaves and the lovely scented magenta blooms. This rose was developed in 1905 and dozens must have been sold here very early on for I know of some bushes that are over sixty years old. No rose bed is necessary – people just stick them in the middle of a sunny lawn.

2) The Explorer Roses, Canadian to the core. Most of them are big, bushy, hardy and full of wicked thorns. I have Jens Monk and William Baffin, both big and pink and a little Henry Hudson, an icy white..

3) The Mordens, developed in Manitoba, always a good recommendation for Thunder Bay. My favourite is Morden Fireglow, 2 feet of hot red repeating blooms. I also like Morden Blush, Morden Centennial and Morden Sunrise. All the Mordens are smaller bushes than the Explorers. They are showy small roses that look good alone.

4) Winnipeg Parks. This rose needs protection but its red flowers are beautifully shaped, like tea roses.

5) Teresa Bugnet, another tough red.

6) Blanc Double de Coubert – nice fragrance and the bloom repeats all summer.

7) Polsjaman (or Polar Star or White Rose of Finland). I do not own this rose but I want it! In Thunder Bay people have passed on chunks of this rose to friends for years and it grows all over town.

8) Rosa rubifolia or rosa glaucous or Red Leafed Rose. This was the only plant, besides a peony, that was in my back garden when I bought my house in 1989. It looked like a pile of brambles in a back corner. I pruned and cut and the entire shrub stood up to create a lovely shrub with a pleasing umbrella shape. The leaves have a reddish tinge. It blooms only once a year, bursting out into open pink blooms with a spicy scent. This rose is as tough as Hansa Rose.

The best method is to get a rose already growing in Thunder Bay. Secret Garden Nursery on John Street has such roses. Friends and neighbours may give you a chunk of a favourite. The people who sell plants at the yard sales seldom offer roses. Sometimes the local nurseries sometimes have ‘own root” roses, the best for this climate.