Roses

You have to grow these beauties! We feature roses developed at the Morden Experiment Station on the plains of Canada that are wind, alkaline soil, and winter tolerant. There is no need to mound soil over a graft or to lay canes down and cover for winter. These all grow on their own roots and any winter die-back doesn’t remove varietal character. They, climbers included, bloom on new wood so a bad winter never results in a year without blooms.

Put the rose spray and dust away, they are disease resistant and we’ve not seen cane borers bother these either. Bloom season is from summer to frost with just a bit of a slump during the hottest part of July. Leave the late season blooms on the plants to develop large, showy rose hips for winter color and to encourage canes to harden off before winter.
Pruning is best left until April to remove any die-back. These are truly easy care! Consider surrounding your plants with nepeta, thyme, oregano and agastaches to keep the deer at bay and to provide shaded soil for the rose plants. Full sun, to , water during periods of peak bloom in hot, drying winds.

Adelaide Hoodless

Extremely floriferous vigorous arching stemmed shrub that develops beautiful form over several years.  Foliage is a fine-textured dark green, slightly fragrant blooms are  in clusters of up to 25 semi-double darkest pink to bright red flowers, hips are orange. Resistant to powdery mildew.

Morden Blush

At 2.5’ tall by 1.5’ wide, this little gem is very classic in form. Plentiful pointed buds open into semi-double lightest blush pink, sweetly scented flowers followed by orange hips in fall. The longest blooming Morden rose, this one is resistant to powdery mildew and black spot.

Cuthbert Grant

Fragrant, velvety crimson red 4” double flowers on dark green broad, upright 3-4’ by 3-4’ medium sized shrub. Recurrent bloom (First flush in June then repeated late July to frost.)

Morden Fireglow

Unique bi-color 3” double flowers are fiery orange with red reverse on a 2’ by 1.5’ dark green upright bush . Enjoy the lightly fragranced show from early summer to frost.

Morden Sunrise

If you love Peace Rose this fragrant beauty is for you! Bright yellow-orange buds become 3” semi-double open-faced flowers with wavy orange petals grading to clear yellow at the base where orange stamens add to the show. Foliage is glossy, dark green on this 3’ by 3’ compact rounded Everblooming plant.

Winnipeg Parks

This is perhaps the most planted Parkland rose. The fully double 3 inch recurrent blooms are a bright fuchsiaburgundy shade that pop out against medium green foliage trimmed in reddish edges and with reddish new growth. We’ve seen a young bush with nine blooms at once plus unopened buds! These compact rounded almost 3 foot tall bushes have big rose hips added for winter interest.

Morden Centennial

Vivid pink buds open into 4” double, lightly fragranced blooms recurring from June until frost. At 4-6’ by 4-6’ this rounded shrub is the biggest of the Morden Experiment station beauties unless you prune for size control. Abundant orange rose hips add striking winter interest.

Hope for Humanity

This is a blood-red 3” double everblooming (June-September)member of the Canadian Parkland Series of roses developed at the Morden Research Station.  Growth habit is upright-rounded. Mature size is 4-6’ Tall and Wide.

Zone 3  to  when in bloom    Full sun 

Prairie Joy

This is an Upright arching member of the Canadian Parkland Series that grows6-8’ tall by 5-6’ wideif not pruned for size control. After an early summer heavy flush of double pale pink blooms flowering will continue to be produced throughout the season.

Zone 2     to  when in bloom      Full sun

Canadian Explorer Series: Hardy to Zone 2

Henry Kelsey

This 6’ pillar rose with clusters of 9 to 15 deep burgundy 2” double blooms with bright gold stamens is a spicy fragranced recurrent bloomer—from June to frost.. Don’t prune late season blooms and enjoy clusters of small orange hips until birds have a winter snack. (Wax wings are fond of these.)

John Cabot

Vigorous 8-10’ climber or pillar with arching stems and 2½” fuchsia pink double fragrant blooms may have a few splashes of white on the petals in summer. This recurrent bloomer—June to frost —will need some post winter pruning but a few minutes’ snipping is no big deal compared to the summer display!

William Baffin

This easily trellised arching 6-10’ pillar rose is the hardiest from a favorite grower. Really large clusters of 2.5” clear pink slightly fragranced semi-double blooms are recurrent from June to September.

Other Hardy Roses

Darlow’s Enigma

This is an heirloom rose of unknown ancestry with intense rose fragrance also hinting of citrus.  2” white single to semi-double blooms, opening to expose a golden yellow center are borne in clusters of 20 or more.  Glossy dark green foliage covers the broad-rounded to rambling shrub that tolerates alkaline soils growing 4-6’ Tall and Wide.  Bloom time:  June-September.

Zone 4    to    when in bloom    Full sun

Linda Campbell

This is an upright arching 5-6’ tall and wide Rugosa hybrid rose from the Morden Ag Research station on the Canadian plains.  Clusters of 2.5” dark velvety red semi-double blooms will recur from June until frost.

Zone 4    to when in bloom      Full sun

Plant the more strongly fragrant rose varieties near seating areas, doors and windows. Place white-blooming plants where you can enjoy them as twilight falls. As the light fades you will see the palest blooms longest and in cooling evening air fragrances will become stronger. Roses also benefit from companion plants to shade the roses roots.

Rain Gauge

Throughout this site, the following are used as guidelines for watering established plants:

These plants need regular watering somewhat like a bluegrass lawn so that they never dry to depth in the root system during the active growing season and need occasional winter watering to prevent root dessication and resultant plant death.

These plants are adapted to intermittent deep watering with soil drying to a depth of a few inches between waterings. Watering frequency may be every couple of weeks during the active growing season and maybe only one winter watering for optimal care.

These truly xeric plants can live with our 12 inches of natural precipitation and only need a winter watering during a multi-year drought but they will thrive with a monthly watering. Overwatering will kill some of these.

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