PATRIOTIC PICK
Embrace the true Canadian North with the fiery pink Aurora Borealis rose, named for the celebrated night sky phenomenon.
The Canada Blooms Plant of the Year for 2021 has a practical nature: it’s winter-hardy and black spot– resistant, so it doesn’t need chemicals to control disease. “Aurora Borealis is cold-hardy down to about -35 C,” says Travis Banks of Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, in the Niagara Region, where the rose was developed. “The flowers retain their colour, and the plant is covered in blooms for the whole growing season. Our bush was still producing new flowers in October.”