"When I first became interested in horticulture, back in 1938, a neighbor woman gave me a piece of Hansa root, and my aunt supplied me with a few suckers of Betty bland. That was the beginning of a long-lasting love affair with hardy roses. Afterward I bought roses offered in various catalogues, and exchanged material with such enthusiasts as Robert C. Felske, Percy Wright, Robert Erskine, Bert Porter, and Robert Simonet. I began to collect material from the wild, and tried my hand at hybridizing. By 1969, when I left the farm at Rumsey to work at the Brooks Horticultural Centre, I was growing about 150 named varieties and unanamed selections. Becoming involved full time in small fruit work pushed my rose interests into the background, though they were by no means given up.
The following, compiled from my scattered notes, is a summary of 47 years' experience growing hardy and semi-hardy roses. I have omitted most of the tentative selections as well as others I was not able to observe long enough to evaluate. Some I transferred to the Brooks Station and thus was able to continue my observations. In some cases my notes were inadequate, and I have had to rely on memory.
I think prairie plantings should make more use of hardy roses. Even in Europe, where there is no difficulty in raising the tender sorts, shrub roses are widely planted. While on a European trip three years ago, I was surprised to see the roses used for roadside plantings in Bavaria. The Norwegians too make good use of these shrubs in their plantings.
Probably the factors that discourage people from planting roses are lack of hardiness, suckering, thorns, chlorosis, snout beetles, gall wasps, and rust in native roses and many of their hybrids. Black spot has not been a problem here, and we seldom see it.
Looking for that nebulous treasure at the foot of the rainbow is what rose planting and rose breeding are all about.
Happy gardening!
Walter Schowalter
Big Valley, Alberta Canada
February 7, 1985

He goes on to give short descriptions of 103 roses. Some of these I have added under "comments" in the HMF listing. - Margit

General Notes

"R. woodsii - will bloom in fall under exceptional conditions. Discovered in a bluff near Rumsey [Alberta, Canada] some 4 ft. roses blooming August. Have not checked out for species. Porter claims to have discovered R. arkansana 4 ft. tall. Hybrids?
Sowed OP seed of mixed Maypole, Rumsey, and Hayter arkansanas. Most closely resembled parents. No interspecific hybrids. Nearly all single, some with extra petal or two, best with only 15 petals. Tend to revert to type.

Three unmistakable arkansana hybrids among some mixed rugosa hybrid seed. Up to 30 petals.

There are those who say that our wild species do not intergrade. Many variant types and suspected hybrids. Porter calls them "a Heterozygous mess." Have not attempted to interbreed because of lack of time. Burbank believes (quote?) many ordinarly intersterite species will breed under ideal conditions at widely separated times."

Walter Schowalter Notes
Square brackets mine. - Margit