TORONTO -- Lovers gather them up by the dozen. Poets write sonnets praising their beauty, while gardeners coddle them.
And it's astonishing to think roses, having graced the landscape of royalty and the common gardener alike, have been around for more than 35 million years.
When babying hybrids and floribundas through another cold snap becomes too much, gardeners are wise to look at a series of hale and hearty roses developed specifically for our wild and woolly climate.
According to The Beaver magazine, Explorer roses are winter-hardy and will survive temperatures as low as -35C. The roses were cultivated at the Experimental Farm in Ottawa by Agriculture Canada and were named in honour of our Canadian explorers.
Author Jennifer Nault says the roses are "as tough and versatile as their namesakes," requiring little maintenance and are disease resistant.
Nault explores these vigorous shrubs and climbers in the May issue of the magazine, which is Canada's second-oldest national publication, focusing on our nation's past.
"Our readers have a real passion for gardening and it's a nice way at looking at our history," says publisher Deborah Morrison.
"The rose story spun from an idea on Marquis wheat -- a special grain developed in Canada to survive our winters -- and we found a much prettier story to tell."
The Henry Hudson rose, for instance, is a dense, low-growing hybrid with good foliage.
Hudson was looking for a polar route to Asia, but discovered the Hudson River and James Bay instead. After a particularly hard winter, his crew mutinied, and Hudson and his son were set adrift to fend for themselves.
The naming of this rose is particularly apt: The bud of the Hudson rose is pink then fades to a semi-double, white flower. It's very hardy -- and unlike Hudson and his son who didn't fare so well -- this rose will be a long-lasting performer in any garden.
The Samuel de Champlain rose, on the other hand, is a gorgeous red bloomer with masses of flowers. It blooms throughout the summer and is one of the most popular roses of the series, in spite of being susceptible to die-back during severe winters.
