Felicitas Svejda (November 8, 1920 – January 19, 2016) was a federal scientist in Canada who developed roses that could survive Canada's short growing season and bitter winter conditions. She led the rose-breeding program at the

Central Experimental Farm The Central Experimental Farm (CEF), commonly known as the Experimental Farm, is an agricultural facility, working farm, and research centre of the Science and Technology Branch, formerly the Research Branch, of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. ...

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada (now

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC; sometimes Ag-Canada; french: Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada)''Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Agriculture ...

) for nearly 25 years. She developed the Explorer Rose Series named in honour of Canadian explorers. Many of her roses also thrive in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Biography

Felicitas Svejda was born November 8, 1920 in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. She obtained her Ph.D. in

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...

in 1948 from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Hochschule fur Bodenkultur) in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. She later moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1953 and settled in Ottawa, Ontario. She died on January 19, 2016 at the age of 95, in the city of Ottawa from brief complications following

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

Career

After graduation, Svejda remained at the university in Vienna where she worked as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are not in ...

agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

from 1947-1951. She then moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

to work at the Swedish Association of Seed Selection for a year. When she moved to

she worked for the federal government's Department of Agriculture (now

) as a

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

in the cereal division from 1953-1961 before accepting the position in

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

breeding. The Canadian Explorer Rose series, developed by Svejda, made the

famous for

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

breeding by creating a plant both hardy and recurrently blooming. In 1961 she reactivated the rose breeding program in Ottawa aimed to develop completely winter-hardy, recurrent-flowering varieties. She also sought varieties resistant to black spot and

mildew Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mould, largely by its colour: moulds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consi ...

, and ones with good ornamental features of flower and shrub.T.H. Anstey, Agriculture Canada One Hundred Harvests, Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, 1886-1986. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Horticulture Series No. 27, 1986. p. 252-256 The rose varieties available in Canada in 1961 could not survive without winter protection outside the warmer conditions of

southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

(

Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

) and the coast of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Armed with patience and determination, Svejda managed to succeed in developing a first variety with these characteristics after 8 years. In 1968 she launched the first national trial of ornamental shrubs in Canada whereby she sent her roses and other plants to locations across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

to test their survival rates in local climates. The Explorer rose series includes 25 different varieties released between 1968 and 1999; 13 developed during her career, the remainder developed by the program after her retirement. The Explorer Roses are winter hardy, recurrent-flowering, disease-resistant plants that have made their way into park gardens and backyards all over Canada. Some of the hardier cultivars are also grown in

and her homeland of Austria, and have been adapted by others for harsh climates such as the

Nevada desert The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range. The desert is a geographical region that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife Fund, and the Central Basin a ...

. The Explorer Roses include: 'Alexander MacKenzie', 'Captain Samuel Holland', David Thompson, 'Jens Munk', and 'John Cabot'. Svejda also worked with ornamental shrubs; five weigelias named after dances inuet, Rumba, Samba, Tango and Polka robust

forsythia ''Forsythia'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe. ''Forsythia'' – also one of the plant's common names – is ...

s Northern Gold and Happy Centennial, and three mock oranges including Buckley's Quill.

Honours and awards

Svejda received several awards and recognitions. She received a certificate of merit from the

Royal National Rose Society The Royal National Rose Society (RNRS) (1876-2017) was a specialist horticultural organization in the United Kingdom dedicated to the cultivation and appreciation of roses. Founded in 1876 as the "National Rose Society", it was the world's olde ...

of Great Britain (1985) and the Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation (1999), the prestigious

Portland Gold Medal The Portland Gold Award is given annually by the Portland Rose Society to new rose cultivars that demonstrate exceptional performance in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The first award was given in 1919 by the city of Portland, Oregon. ...

(2004), and an honorary Doctorate of Science from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, Toronto (2000) for her scientific career and contributions to ornamental

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. She was also the honorary patron of the Canadian Rose Society. The "Explorer Rose Garden" was planted in 2005 at the

in Ottawa to proudly display the results of her research. It combines plants from the original collection as well as more recent varieties. Svejda was a special guest at the official opening ceremony. In 2010, she generously donated her personal records, correspondence, and library to the

Montreal Botanical Garden The Montreal Botanical Garden (french: link=no, Jardin botanique de Montréal) is a large botanical garden in Montreal, Quebec, Canada comprising of thematic gardens and greenhouses. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2008 ...

Library. The Felicitas Svejda: Scientist and rosarian collection is available online.

Selected roses

* 'John Cabot', (1978) * 'Alexander MacKenzie', (1985) * 'Captain Samuel Holland', (1991) * 'Jens Munk', (1979) * 'Henry Hudson', (1976) * 'Henry Kelsey', (1984) * 'David Thompson', (1979) * 'John Franklin', (1979) * 'Champlain', (1982) * 'John Davis', (1986) * 'J.P. Connell', (1986) * 'William Baffin', (1983) * 'Frontenac', (1992) * 'Lambert Closse', (1992)

Rose gallery

Rosa_A._Mackenzie_2019-06-05_8450.jpg, 'Alexander MacKenzie' Rosa_Captain_Samuel_Holland_2019-06-06_9411.jpg, 'Captain Samuel Holland' Rosa_%27John_Cabot%27,_Devonian_Botanic_Garden.jpg, 'John Cabot' Rose,_John_Davis,_%E3%83%90%E3%83%A9,_%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3_%E3%83%87%E3%82%A4%E3%83%93%E3%82%B9,_(14078724318)_(cropped).jpg, 'John Davis' Jens_Munk_flower.JPG, 'Jens Munk'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Svejda, Felicitas Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 20th-century Canadian botanists 21st-century Canadian botanists 20th-century Canadian biologists 21st-century Canadian biologists Canadian women botanists 20th-century Austrian botanists Canadian geneticists Austrian geneticists Canadian women biologists Rose breeders Scientists from Vienna People from Ottawa Scientists from Ontario University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna alumni 1920 births 2016 deaths Austrian emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian women scientists 21st-century Canadian women scientists Canadian women geneticists