Roses seduce with their incomparable beauty and fragrance. Growing these magnificent flowers in a colder climate is a stimulating challenge. Success depends on a single secret: choosing the right variety from the very beginning. This article is a complete guide to help you select a variety that will flourish in your garden.
Four Key Considerations for Success
The success of growing roses, as with any perennial, begins with a good understanding of the planting environment. To find the ideal rose, evaluate each variety according to these four essential criteria. They will guide you in choosing plants capable of surviving and thriving year after year.
- Hardiness above all. Choosing roses adapted to your hardiness zone, or to a colder zone, is the first crucial step toward success. A plant rated for zone 5a can be grown in zones 5a, 5b, 6, 7, etc., but will struggle or not survive in zone 4. You must also consider microclimates: a location protected from the wind by a wall or the urban heat island effect can create slightly milder conditions. Take the time to observe your garden.
- Repeat-blooming ability. A repeat-blooming rose offers several waves of flowers during the season, often from June until the first frost. Think of hardy rose series like ‘Canadian Shield’, which covers itself in red flowers, or ‘Félix Leclerc’ with its vibrant pink blooms. Continuous blooming transforms your garden into a source of renewed colour and pleasure.
- Disease resistance. Opting for varieties known for their good resistance to common diseases, such as black spot and powdery mildew, is particularly important in our sometimes-humid summers. A naturally resistant rose requires less care and ensures dense, healthy foliage, allowing you to enjoy a magnificent floral display.
- Size and habit at maturity. You must consider the final dimensions of the rose (height and width) to ensure it integrates well into its intended space and use, whether in a border, as a specimen, in a hedge, or as a climber.
Exploring the Major Rose Families
Roses are divided into several categories, each with its own attractions and requirements.
1. The Classics: Hybrid Teas, Grandifloras, and Floribundas
These roses produce the iconic flowers seen in flower shops.
- Hybrid Teas: They are famous for the "perfection of their forms and the vivid colours of their large flowers," often solitary, fragrant, and borne on long stems, ideal for cutting. They are repeat-blooming.
- Grandifloras: They combine the "hardiness and abundant flowering of floribunda roses with the perfection of hybrid tea flowers," producing blooms often grouped in clusters.
- Floribundas: Recognized as the "most floriferous of all modern roses," floribundas are distinguished by "abundant and continuous flowering, from June to October," with flowers grouped in bouquets.
Their Relevance for You: Generally, these roses are suitable for zones 5 to 9. These varieties represent a significant challenge in zones 3 and 4, where considerable winter protection is essential. They are best suited for dedicated gardeners who are not afraid to provide extra care.
2. Champions for Our Climate: Hardy and Shrub Roses
These rose varieties are the solution for successful and hassle-free gardening. Known for their vigour, great cold resilience, and excellent disease resistance, they require little pruning and maintenance.
Spotlight on Star Varieties:
- Canadian Artist Series: Developed especially for harsh climates, this series offers exceptional hardiness and disease resistance, often to zone 3.
- ‘Félix Leclerc’: A vigorous rose that can be grown as a climber. It produces fuchsia-pink flowers over a long period and is hardy to zone 3.
- ‘Campfire’: It displays semi-double flowers that change from yellow to pink. It has few thorns and is hardy to zone 3.
- ‘Bill Reid’: It bears yellow flowers and is distinguished by its upright habit. Its flowers are self-cleaning, which reduces maintenance.
- A Rose with a Big Heart: ‘Never Alone’
This unique Canadian rose was developed in Manitoba in partnership with the Never Alone foundation to support people affected by cancer. It is distinguished by its bicolour red and white flowers on a compact plant. Highly disease-resistant, it blooms non-stop and is ideal for containers. Hardy to zone 3.
- 49th Parallel Collection: Selected for its very high hardiness (zone 3), easy care, and excellent disease resistance.
- ‘Aurora Borealis®’: This rose captures the light with its sunset-pink flowers against dark, glossy foliage. It blooms continuously and is self-cleaning. Hardy to zone 3.
- ‘Canadian Shield™’: A must-have rose. It covers itself in red flowers, blooms repeatedly, and is very resistant to disease. It is hardy to zone 3.
- ‘Chinook Sunrise’: It offers an abundance of coral-tinged pink flowers with a light fragrance. It is hardy to zone 3.
- Oso Easy® Series: These roses are marketed for their ease of care, long blooming season, and disease resistance. They are often hardy to zone 4.
- ‘Oso Easy Double Red®’: It produces abundant double flowers in a deep pink to red colour. Its glossy foliage is highly resistant to disease.
- ‘Oso Easy Peasy®’: Its magenta flowers renew themselves without needing to be deadheaded, a major advantage for minimal maintenance.
- Bloomin' Easy® Series: Known for its compact, very floriferous, and easy-to-grow varieties, generally hardy to zone 3.
- ‘Gumball Goody™’: An explosion of colour with fragrant double flowers that transition from yellow to pink and red on the same plant.
- ‘Cinnamon Hearts™’: As romantic as its name, this rose offers true-red flowers on a compact plant, with continuous blooming from spring to fall.
- ‘Peach Lemonade®’: A unique rose whose flowers open a sorbet-yellow before maturing to a soft pink, creating a spectacular bicolour effect.
- Other Reliable Types: The Rugosa Rose (Rosa rugosa) is exceptionally hardy (zone 3) and disease-resistant. It also produces attractive decorative hips in the autumn. Among its best-known cultivars, ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’ is distinguished by its large, pure white, and very fragrant double flowers.
3. Climbing Roses (Sarmentosa)
These roses develop long, flexible canes that can be trained on a trellis, wall, or arch. Their hardiness varies enormously, so it is essential to choose a variety explicitly recommended for your zone. Even the hardiest climbers may benefit from having their canes protected during winter in the coldest zones.
- Explorer Series: This historic Canadian series includes excellent climbing roses known for their hardiness.
- ‘John Cabot’: The first climber in the series, it produces double flowers in fuchsia-pink to red. Very vigorous, it can reach 2.5 to 3 m (8 to 10 ft).
- ‘William Baffin’: One of the hardiest, it offers clusters of semi-double, deep pink flowers and can reach a height of 2.5 to 3 m (8 to 10 ft).
Choosing the right rose is the first step toward a garden full of colour and flowers. For a rewarding experience with less work, direct your choice toward hardy shrub roses. The series developed for cold climates will ensure you have years of spectacular blooms with minimal worry.
