Roses

At our last place in Carcross, Yukon (about 1 hour drive south of where we are now) we grew some roses and learned which ones could overwinter successfully - even with severe winter temperatures that, at times, can dip down to -40 degrees (at -40, both fahrenheit and celcius scales are the same).

Here's what we learned through trial and error about the variety of roses that do well:

- Morden
- Parkland
- Explorer
- Pavement
- Rugosa

This is the Morden Sunrise rose, a beautiful single blossom that really does look like the rising sun.

We buy our roses in a dormant state (dry root) at our local nursery outlets and garden centres at Canadian Tire and Wal-mart.  They come in a waxed container like a milk carton, some are already breaking dormancy by showing small new shoots.  We pot them up and get them started in the greenhouse - like you see in the first photo - when the snow is still on the ground outside.

This red-leafed rose (Rosa rubrifolia), is a very hardy (to zone 2) rose with many small pink single blooms.  Its prominent feature is not the blossoms as much as the unique colour of the leaves.

It does tend to sprawl, so it helps to prune back the new runaway branches, especially suckers.

This is my favorite rose.  It's a yellow rugosa (the only yellow rugosa, as I understand it) with a blossom that forms up very much like a hybrid tea.

The colour is really quite stunning - emerging as deep yellow and fading to a cream as it matures.

As with other rugosas, it is nicely scented as well.










Another lovely rose is this one from the Explorer series, 'J.P. Connell'.  There are two photos here of this rose - the first to show the nice rosebud as it first emerges, and then a pair of blossoms that show how it also fades from a deep creamy colour to a pale white.












We're also partial to red roses, and this is a beauty!

It's also from the Explorer series, named after Samuel de Champlain and is a profuse bloomer.

Day Lilies

Early in the spring my sister in Stouffville, Ontario (who is an avid - and excellent - gardener) sent me some day lily tubers.  We potted them up and put them in the greenhouse, so by the time they we ready to plant in mid-June lots of new scapes and blossoms were already forming.

This is one of the daylilies with the interesting name 'In Schubert's Day'.  It has a beautiful buttery colour and nice frilly edges on the petals.




This one is called 'Strutter's Ball' with lovely burgundy petals and a yellow throat.











This daylily was bought from a local nursery as a dormant tuber.  It did really well, producing lots of these white blossoms with a burgundy throat.

We're hoping they will all overwinter.  They are rated as USDA zone 3 plants, so should be fine.

Day lilies are so named because they produce a bloom that only lasts for one day.  When the darkness of night comes, the blossom fades and its life is over.  However, they are such prolific bloomers that another one quickly takes the place of the faded one.

An interesting thing we discovered is that during the almost 24-hour daylight encountered from June 21st to almost the end of July, the daylilies continued to bloom and lasted for several days before fading.  Another advantage to being a 'Northern' gardener - we can enjoy our daylilies longer!

How does your garden grow?

We were contacted out of the blue by Lillian Strauss, a writer for the bi-weekly magazine "What's Up Yukon". Lillian had heard about our garden design and asked if she could do an interview for an article.

Here's the resulting article appearing in "What's Up Yukon", dated July 4th:

Where Beauty Blooms in a Private Cozy Backyard Retreat


by Lillian Strauss


When it comes to sound design principles, solid construction techniques and appropriate plant selection, Hank and Susan Moorlag come out in aces and spades (pun intended).


Both have done a remarkable amount of down to earth work (yeah, that was intended) to create a backyard garden that reflects their needs and interests.


Hank now retired from the RCMP and from two five-year terms as Ombudsman, has gardening in his genes. His father was in the landscaping and nursery business in Ontario, acting as manager for Weal and Cullen.


Both Hank and Susan started 53 varieties of annuals and perennials from seed as he pointed to one bed containing three hundred pansies that will soon bloom into a riot of blue and yellow ribbons.


Pointing to the trees, Hank remarks that the three crabapple trees and high bush cranberry shrubs and a rare variegated leaf lilac tree offer vertical elements to the lay out design.


The couple collected tons of rocks that frame all five rambling triangular shaped beds. “One day I will count them all so that our guests can play “Guess How Many Rocks Are In the Garden Game.“


Three truck loads of road mix gravel were dumped providing a dual purpose of drainage and raising the beds to keep heat in the soil. Six to eight inches of topsoil was added to that.


First, the Moorlags laid out the patio stone walkways leading to the main house and to the greenhouse. The walkways act as guides to create the five triangular shaped beds. Another bed has a profusion of miniature plants, Dwarf Sweet Williams and Irises, Lamium, and other creeper plants which will provide ground cover.


A hand-built arbour provides a pleasing centre piece that takes you through the walkways and invites you to sit under the swing or enjoy sitting on the patio chairs.


“In two years, the Virginia creepers will cover the arbour completely,” Hank comments with no hint of impatience.


Two of the spruce trees he kept. The rest he dug out with a Bobcat.


“Until last week Susan and I hauled fifty trays of plants back and forth from the outdoor garden and back into the greenhouse where the temperatures were assured of being plant friendly."


The shed provides a dual purpose of protection for the plants against adverse weather and temperature changes as well as storage for gardening tools. It is also home to trays of plants with names on them designated for friends and the church: “I like to plant for them.”


Outside Hank shows where he will build another lattice stand to act as a screen for the propane tank. The canary bird vine will take over the trellises.


Another rock-edged bed contains Hank’s pride and joy: the rose bed.



“Soon there will be an explosion of Persian Yellow blooms," he says. "Here’s a red leaf rose in the centre. And a white Morden rose, a Parkland from Ottawa, a McKenzie and a variety of blooms named after our explorer heroes.”


The Hope for Humanity rose will soon complete his collection. With great pride and a tinge of nostalgia in his voice, he remarks that this rose commemorates one hundred years service of the Red Cross.


Before long, the hardy roses will burst into a riot of colour.


“This potted Brugmansia will pop up to five feet in height." It looks like a parasol with hanging trumpet flowers. His sister sent Lady’s Mantle and Phlox from Ontario in zip-lock bags.


“These tomato plants came from Jack Cable’s tomato seeds. The rocks came from old quarry sites, open fields, but not from road sides where soil erodes.”


There is a saying that gardening does not begin in the spring and does not end in fall with the decline of the season, but begins in the winter with the dream.


The Moorlags made theirs come true.

(Reprinted with permission of What's Up Yukon)

Garden hardscape elements

This arbor is one of the main features of the garden. In time, it will be covered with ... I don't know, perhaps Virginia Creeper or a hardy Clematis, or maybe even a climbing rose.

We used steel fencepost anchors, driven into the ground, and then slipped the feet of the arbor into them. It worked great - nice and solid. And it should prevent moisture from deteriorating the wood.

Four hangers were installed for hanging baskets.



Several lattice screens also help provide more interest to the garden design. One hides a large propane tank, and this one covers a large part of the back fence that would look pretty bleak without it. A narrow bed at the bottom holds enough soil to sustain the Canary Bird Vine.

Plastic clips were attached to the main uprights to hold these flower pots filled with Chalon pansies. These pansies are unique because the petals are very frilly, and they are strongly scented.

Garden Progress Inspection

'Blue' is sitting on the newly installed stepping stone inspecting some of the recently planted annuals. The Prairie Joy rose is already in bloom behind her.

2008 Season

This was the first season for the garden. The beds were ready for planting and we were anxious to see an actual flower garden materialize.

Roses had been bought early in the season, potted up, and put into the greenhouse. Several varieties belong to the Explorer series – Champlain, McKenzie, JP Connell – and others from the Parkland series – Winnipeg Parks, Prairie Joy, Persian Yellow. All are hardy to –40 winter temperatures, with nothing but a good snow cover.

We arranged them for planting in the rose garden about mid-June.

We started about 45 trays of annuals, many of them pansies. The pansies, from the Atlas series, filled in the pansy bed in alternating ribbons of yellow and blue. There are over 300 pansy plants in this bed.

Starting Annuals

We start all our annuals from seed. The seed packets are ordered from Stokes (http://www.stokeseeds.com/) and Dominion Seeds (http://www.dominion-seed-house.com/) the first or second week in January each year.

Germination trays are set up in the workroom downstairs under full spectrum fluorescent lights. We invested in a steel rack and light assembly, but you can also build one yourself – check out this link:

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/nurture-seedlings-tiered-growing-stand.aspx?hl=en&q=seed+starting+rack&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

For years we used redi-earth germination mix – a fine blend of peat, vermiculite and other soilless material. But it doesn’t seem to be available anymore, so we’ve switched to Sunshine germination mix #3 which is available from our good friends at the Greenhouse at Cliffside (http://www.thegreenhouse.yk.net/). The mix comes in big black plastic bales, and is a bit pricey – but worth it!

Once the seedlings are ready for transplanting, Susan sets up the cellpacks and gets to work. For the past two years she has transplanted over 2500 seedlings each spring.

The trays then go into the greenhouse – usually by mid April. However, the nights are still cold enough to freeze off the new plants. So we start the daily ritual of moving the trays from the greenhouse into the adjoining shed each evening where they stay overnight. A small electrical heater is enough to keep them warm. Then in the morning when it’s warm enough in the greenhouse again, out they go. This continues until nighttime temperatures are above freezing.

We start planting out during the first week of June. But if there is a full moon before mid June, we wait until the new moon before planting out. It’s based on a bit of folklore, we know, but it seems to work.