''Rosa'' 'John Davis' is a pink Hybrid Kordesii rose cultivar, bred by Canadian rose breeder

Felicitas Svejda 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 Experim ...

. It was introduced in Canada in 1977 by

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

. It is considered to be best of the early Canadian Explorer roses that Svejda developed and named in honour of legendary Canadian explorers.

Description

'John Davis' is a tall Hybrid Kordesii shrub rose variety, in height with a spread. It has a quartered, cupped bloom form of medium-sized Flowers. Blooms begin as bright pink and then fade as they age to a lighter pink with golden centers. Flowers are carried in clusters of 10–15 and have a light, musky fragrance. The rose will bloom occasionally during the season after its first flowering. The plant has an arching, rambling growth habit and glossy, dark green foliage.

History

Felicitas Svejda

Felicitas Svejda was born November 8, 1920, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. She studied

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. Professio ...

at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in

, where she earned a PhD in 1948. She moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1953 and was hired by the Canadian Department of Agriculture's research division in Ottawa, Ontario. Her first project was researching cereal grains, but later she began working with ornamental plants. Svejda was given a new project in 1961 to create a series of winter hardy roses which would thrive in the coldest regions of Canada, with sub-freezing winter temperatures of -50 C, and would also flower regularly during Canada's short growing season. With no prior knowledge of roses, Svejvda developed a successful 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. ...

(CEF) in Ottawa. From the 1960s to the 1980s, she introduced many new cultivars, including 22 roses in the Explorer Rose Series, named in honour of Canadian explorers. Some of her most popular cultivars are 'John Cabot', 'Alexander MacKenzie', 'David Thompson', and 'Jens Munk'. Svejvda led the rose-breeding program at CEF for 25 years until her retirement in 1985. Her roses continued to be introduced in Canada well into the 1990s. Svejda died on January 19, 2016, in Ottawa at the age of 95.

'John Davis'

Svejda bred 'John Davis' by crossing 'Kordesii' and ('Red Dawn' x 'Suzanne'). The rose cultivar was introduced in Canada in 1977 by

. It is one of the Explorer Roses that Svejda developed to withstand the harsh Canadian winters and thrive in its short growing season. It has been described as the "most beautiful of the very hardy Canadian roses". 'John Davis' is named for John Davis (1550–1605), an explorer and navigator who helped discover the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

. He was also the first navigator to pass through the

Davis Strait The Davis Strait (Danish language, Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The ...

between

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

and Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosa 'John Davis' John Davis 1977 introductions