''Rosa'' 'William Baffin' is a deep 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 ...

in 1974. It was introduced in Canada in 1983 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 one of the hardiest of the Canadian Explorer roses that Svejda developed and named in honour of legendary Canadian explorers.

Description

'William Baffin' is a tall Hybrid Kordesii shrub rose variety, in height, with a spread. It has semi-double (8–15 petals), medium-sized flowers and a flat, saucer-shaped bloom form. Blooms are deep pink with golden stamens and flashes of white at the center of the petal. Flowers are carried in clusters of 10–30 and have either no fragrance or a light fragrance. The plant has an arching, climbing growth habit and small, glossy, dark green foliage. It is very disease resistant and blooms continuously throughout the season.

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 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 Jan. 19, 2016 in Ottawa at the age 95.

'William Baffin'

Svejda bred 'William Baffin' in 1974 by crossing 'Kordesii' x ('Red Dawn' x 'Suzanne'). The rose cultivar was introduced in Canada in 1983 by

. It is considered one of the hardiest and most vigorous of the Explorer Roses that Svejda developed to withstand the harsh Canadian winters and thrive in its short growing season. 'William Baffin' is named for English navigator,

William Baffin William Baffin ( – 23 January 1622) was an English navigator, explorer and cartographer. He is best known for his attempt to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, during which Baffin became the first European to disc ...

, (c. 1584–1622), who is best known for his attempt to discover a Northwest Passage from the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. He is also the first European to discover

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; ; ; ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a s ...

in Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosa 'William Baffin'

1983 introductions