Rose breeding is like a labyrinth. This is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as a "Complicated irregular structure, with many passages, hard to find way through. A maze. An intricate or tortuous arrangement. An entangled state of affairs." The rose labyrinth began over 30 million years ago, the earliest rose being similar to Rosa Canina, and the labyrinth goes on with more "rooms" and some dead ends. Fascinating.

When I began hybridizing roses seventeen years ago I considered the initial crosses to be experimental. The botany courses I studied at the University of Toronto were interesting, but very little on genetics was contained in those courses. Seventeen years later I find this is still a time of learning, and this is one reason it is an absorbing pursuit.

From that first year 1985 came the celebrated rose 'Roberta Bondar', a double fragrant, non-fading yellow climber. This rose is of mixed ploidy levels: 'King's Ransom' (28) x 'Buff Beauty' (21). Although this resulted in a rose that does not produce hips, nevertheless the pollen is viable and I am told by Mike Lowe that he has used it in breeding, even though it is not reliably hardy in New Hampshire (American climate zones 5a to 3b, -15º to 30º).

The advantage of this rose lies in the fact that no deadheading is required, and the growing strength of the climber goes into flower production from June until frost rather than into seed production. I consider that this rose is a fitting tribute to Canada's first female astronaut, who served among the crew of the U.S. space shuttle mission STS-42. As an aside, Dr. Roberta Bondar has now moved on to a new career in photography and has had her work displayed in Canada-wide exhibitions of her outstanding photographs taken in many of Canada's National Parks.

Back to roses: Other mixed ploidy level hybrids are:

'Margaret Fleming' Shrub, R. rugosa alba (14) x 'Masquerade' (28) 1994. This rose displays the typical rugosa foliage to a lesser degree. Its clean, medium pink, semi-double flower and lighter reverse is a colour break from the blue tones of most red/pink rugosa varieties.

'King J', Shrub, R. rugosa alba (14) x 'Assiniboine' (28) 1996. The pollen parent must be a hybrid of a 28 chromosome R. arkansana (R. suffulta). No hips are produced, but it produces an abundance of very fragrant double white blooms for several weeks and sporadically thereafter.

I often use floribunda or shrub roses as one parent and a species or hardy disease-resistant Canadian-bred Explorer rose as the other parent. The floribunda or shrub rose fits easily into the landscape, whereas hybrid teas, gorgeous as they are often require more care, especially if they are to be entered in competition. These are the prima donnas of the rose world.

Examples of species crosses:

'Jim Lounsbery', Shrub, 'Liverpool Echo' x R. virginiana 1994. This orange semi-double rose grows to 8'. Upright, it blooms throughout the summer.

'Charlotte Marie', Shrub 'Marchenland' x R. virginiana 1998. Grows to 2', with single pale pink flowers, light at the base, pale pink reverse. Blooms in small clusters.

And a near-species cross:

'Dr. Harry Upshall', Shrub/Climber, 'Liverpool Echo' x R. foetida persiana 1993. Although this hybrid is once-blooming over a period of 3 - 4 weeks, its small disease-free green foliage is a good foil for the riotous colours of other roses throughout the summer season and into fall. It is female - sterile like its R. foetida parent. R. foetida is said to be the great great grandaddy of 'Peace', but this is not conclusive, as Francis Meilland's recollections on this cross have varied somewhat.

All introductions have been selected for disease resistance. The desire to create roses resistant to Black Spot and mildew came with the reading of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. It was an early warning of the devastating effects of the use of pesticides and fungicides, which have been an ongoing concern of environmentalists since that time.

I remember visiting a hybridizers' test plot a dozen years ago. The roses were glorious, absolutely disease free. When I asked the foreman if the roses were sprayed, he replied emphatically, "Oh yes - every 7 to 10 days." "Then how," I asked, "can you determine which roses are disease resistant?" He didn't have an answer. This was before disease prone roses were of much concern.

Following is a partial list of varieties, species, and near-species crossed here in the past 16 years.

The Burnet rose, a spinosissima from the Burren in Ireland, has yielded some double deep pink roses with numerous prickles in the F2 generation.

R. palustris, a single pink rose that grows in very wet conditions: used only as a pollen parent as it does not survive in our sandy soil.

R. canina, with a possible 35, 42, 34 chromosome count, has not proven to be a good candidate as a parent.

R. nutkana, collected as seed in British Columbia, yielded no outstanding offspring. An F2 or F3 generation might have produced a good plant, but the farther removed a plant is from the original species, the less likely it is to be disease resistant.

Originations of Robert Erskine, an octogenarian living in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta:
- 'Kinistino' - a selection of R. acicularis
- 'Prairie Peace' - 'Beauty of Leafland' x 'Hazeldean'
- 'Carlos Dawn' - 'Hansa' x R. acicularis

These roses are hardy in Canadian climate zone 2.

'Lavender Dream', Shrub, Interplant - I have some crosses with this rose now under test.

'Alba Semi Plena', vigorous and tall (to 10') for my purposes, but it produces a large crop of attractive red hips in the fall. Has not yet produced any worthwhile hybrids. Typical grey-green foliage.

BL. #83 - Canadian Federal Government origination, a Kordesii hybrid, resistant to disease; has been used as pollen parent with floribundas which are being tested for a third year. They are strong growers, mostly tall, but a few are 18" or less, a size often more desirable for the small home garden of today.

The Explorer roses of Dr. Felicitas Svejda are notably hardy and yielded the following hybrids:

'Erin Fleming', Large-flowered Climber, 'Sunsation' x 'Henry Kelsey' (1995).

'Claire Laberge', Shrub, 'Jens Munk' x 'Scabrosa' (2001).

'Ville du Roeulx', 'Melrose', and 'Floranje' - These roses of Dr. I. Meneuve of Belgium are the result of chemically induced genetic engineering producing some tetraploid roses from R. rugosa, which, although lovely themselves and very floriferous, have never for me produced any worthwhile progeny.

R. sericea pteracantha - The only 4-petaled rose with stunning red prickles was earmarked for breeding purposes, but it was so subject to mite infestations from a neighbour's pine tree which harboured them, that the project was abandoned. With a chromosome count of 14 it might have crossed with R. rugosa for some interesting new hybrids.

R. multiflora - A chance hybrid of R. multiflora spills clouds of hundreds of pink blooms over our arbour. It does not winter kill. It has not been introduced, but we enjoy its profuse flowers. A young plant of R. multiflora hybrid x 'Dr. Huey' hopefully will give us a deep red colour when it blooms.

A total surprise in the labyrinth of rose breeding has been a cross between the floribundas, 'Persian Delight' (Fleming) x 'Eye Opener' (Interplant). It produced a miniature with semi-double red flowers with the fragrance of strawberries. A very appealing little plant. It was named 'Muffets Tuffet', but, unprotected, it succumbed in its second winter and was never introduced. This is one rose that in the labyrinth of breeding came literally to a dead end. The dwarfing effect was probably the result of double recessive genes with dwarfing character.

Recently acquired:

A double yellow shrub rose, hardy and disease resistant, was brought by my great great grandparents from Scotland and has yet to be identified, but will be in the breeding programme when it blooms.

Seed of R. gigantea, from a rose hybridizer in India, has in one year attained a height of 10' in the conservatory. Perhaps its genes, combined with those of hardy Canadian roses, will give us interesting disease resistant progeny.

In our Canadian climate zone of 6a to 7b (winter low of -18ºC/ 0ºF) we do not give winter protection to our roses, and even in the Montreal Botanical Gardens, Zone 5, the originations from our garden suffered no winter damage with the exception of 'Roberta Bondar' and 'Sheila Fleming' which each killed back 1/3 with no winter protection, Claire Laberge reports.

In conclusion, Goethe described the rose as nature's supreme creation. Whether single or double, roses have a powerful appeal to all who appreciate beauty.

May the labyrinth go on and on.