Published May 19, 2004

“It will never rain roses”

So said George Eliot. Around here we’d be content if we could be assured it would just rain rain instead of snow from now on. Thank goodness all the threats of snow haven’t amounted to much here. Let’s hope it stays that way.

The complete quote from George Eliot says: “It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees.” And with our weather it is important that you plant the right kind of trees. And no, it’s not as simple as saying if you want roses you plant a rose tree.

If you’re like me, you agree with the Gertrude Stein quote, “ Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.” Maybe there was a time when it was as simple as that, but it is no longer the case.

Julia, from Wild Cove, emailed and asked some advice about growing roses. As I promised in my first article, I knew nothing about it, but I set out to see what I could learn.

Did you know that the government of Canada has been developing roses “expressly to survive through Canada’s winter”? Says so, right in the Roses Catalogue from Vesey’s and also at their web site (www.veseys.com ). I didn’t know about it until I was told by Ian, of the Newfoundland Horticultural Society.

Explorer Roses and Parkland Roses were developed especially for Canada. The Explorer Roses are named for the explorers that were among the first to brave Canada’s winters. There are a number of different roses in each of these series and they are available in a number of different colors. Most of them are said to be hardy to zone 3 and some even to zone 2.

Both Ian and also Todd, of the Newfoundland Rock Garden Society, have had some experience with growing roses in Newfoundland. Both mentioned that David Austin Roses have been known to grow well in Newfoundland. Todd also stated that “standard hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas are challenging to grow here and not recommended unless you want to fuss and have a sheltered site”. Ian stated, “You will stand the best chance of success if you start off with a pot grown rose from a nursery rather than the waxed store bought plants.”

Wanda Dicks, of the Garden Center in Springdale, says there is still plenty of time before you would consider planting roses this year. The Garden Center doesn’t have their roses in yet but will have them in plenty of time for planting.

I’ve had to rely on experts outside of our area, though still in Newfoundland, for information for this article but I’d love to have a network of local experts to call on. If you have had any experience with growing roses in our area, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at greenhorngardener@yahoo.ca.

If you are thinking about planting roses in your garden this year and want more information about the roses that are hardy to our area check out the special roses section in the links section of the online home of the gardening column http://greenthumbsandgreenhorns.blogspot.com/ .

George was right. It will never rain roses, and if you want roses to succeed around here you have to make sure you plant the right kind of rose tree.