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 Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (now Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) for nearly 25 years. She developed the Explorer Rose Series named in honour of Canadian explorers. Many of her roses also thrive in Finland, Russia, Iceland, Germany and Austria.

Biography

Felicitas Svejda was born November 8, 1920, in Vienna, Austria. She obtained her Ph.D. in agricultural science in 1948 from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Hochschule fur Bodenkultur) in Vienna. She later moved to Canada in 1953 and settled in Ottawa, Ontario. She died on January 19, 2016, at the age of 95, in the city of Ottawa from brief complications following Alzheimer's disease. She also sought varieties resistant to black spot and mildew, and ones with good ornamental features of flower and shrub. The rose varieties available in Canada in 1961 could not survive without winter protection outside the warmer conditions of southern Ontario (Niagara Peninsula) and the coast of British Columbia. Some of the hardier cultivars are also grown in Finland, Russia, Iceland, Germany and her homeland of Austria, and have been adapted by others for harsh climates such as the Nevada desert. Selected roses

'John Cabot', (1978) 'Alexander MacKenzie', (1985) 'Captain Samuel Holland', (1991) 'Jens Munk', (1979) 'Henry Hudson', (1976) 'Henry Kelsey', (1984) 'David Thompson', (1979) 'John Franklin', (1979) 'Champlain', (1982) 'John Davis', (1986) 'J.P. Connell', (1986) 'William Baffin', (1983) 'Frontenac', (1992) 'Lambert Closse', (1992)

Rose gallery