''Rosa'' 'Charles Albanel' is a Hybrid rugosa 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 1970. It was introduced in Canada in 1982 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 Canadian Explorer roses that Svejda developed and named in honour of legendary Canadian explorers.

Description

'Charles Albanel' is a medium-sized, very bushy Hybrid Rugosa variety, in height, with a spread. It has semi-double (15–20 petals), medium-sized flowers and a cluster-flowered bloom form. Blooms are reddish-purple with shades of mauve, and have yellow stamens. Flowers are carried in clusters of 3–7 and have a strong, fruity fragrance. The plant has healthy pale green foliage and many prickles. 'Charles Albanel' grows more horizontally than vertically and is often grown as a low shrub. It flowers early and profusely and will repeat somewhat sporadically for the rest of 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.

'Charles Albanel'

Svejda developed 'Charles Albanel' in 1970 from a self-pollinated seedling of ''Rosa'' 'Souvenir de Philémon Cochet. The rose cultivar was introduced in Canada in 1982 by

. It one of the Explorer Roses that Svejda developed to withstand the harsh Canadian winters and thrive in its short growing season. 'Charles Albanel' is named for French

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest, Charles Albanel (1616–1696), who was the first European to travel overland in Canada to

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosa 'Charles Albanel' Charles Albanel 1982 introductions