the rose club of the horticultural society of iceland

Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson – The Rose Club of the Horticultural Society of Iceland – page 1 of 6

The Rose Club of the Horticultural

Society of Iceland By Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson

Published December 2007

Roses in Iceland! There is something of a contradiction of terms in the notion of growing roses in Iceland. Yet, that is exactly what we are doing - or at least trying to. And trying it is – both with success and some failures. Our Club was founded in April 2002 with the objective of gathering knowledge and experience in the growing of roses and spreading information among the members and to the public. The Club currently has some 210 members, which probably makes it the largest rose society in the World on per capita basis! The Board is elected at the annual meeting. (See the list of current board members and e-mails below) About roses in Iceland The variable climate and unstable weather conditions prevailing in Iceland provide a major challenge to rose-growing in Iceland. The weather is characterised by frequent high winds, high rainfall summer and winter, especially in the South; relatively low summer temperatures, and relatively mild winters with frequent variations between frost and thaw – in short, conditions generally hated by roses! The situation is however not hopeless and with knowledge about requirements of the different varieties and increasing emphasis and success by some propagators in developing hardy varieties the hopes for Icelandic rose enthusiasts are rising.

PHOTO 1 The indigenous Burnet Rose on the banks of Skaftá in South Iceland. Photo: Samson B. Harðarson There are two species of roses occurring naturally in six widely dispersed locations in Iceland, the Burnet rose, Rosa pimpinellifolia, (Photo 1) and the Glaucous Dog Rose, Rosa dumalis, (in one location only - Photo 2.).

PHOTO 2 The only natural occurance of the Glaucous Dog Rose in Iceland flowering for the first time on record in 2004.

Photo: Bjarni D. Sigurðsson.


There are interesting speculations on the possible means by which these roses arrived at their very few and widely separated locations. Were they brought by the early Irish Christians among the first settlers? These limited natural occurrences have not led to proper genetic adaptation of these species to the climatic conditions. Their flowering is sparse and they are not fully hardy and therefore not widely used in gardening until now. Surprisingly, imported and/or genetically mixed varieties of these same species seem to perform better as garden plants in Iceland.

PHOTO 3 'Hurdalsrosen' from Norway does well in Iceland. Photo: Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson. There are records of some 930 species and varieties of roses having been imported to Iceland and presumably tried, mostly in private gardening (Photo 3). Unfortunately, there are limited written records of the outcomes of these trials, a situation that needs to be addressed. In recent years a number of dedicated gardeners have

become successful at growing roses and identifying varieties that perform well, given proper care and choice of suitable location (Photo 4, 5 and 6).

PHOTO 4 'Bonica 82' and 'Hansaland' happily flowering until late fall. Photo: Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson.


PHOTO 5 An imported R. pimpinellifolia‐variety flowered profusely in 2007. Photo: Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson.

PHOTO 6 Rose‐lover Steinunn Ólafsdóttir among her favorites. Photo: Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson. This success has been helped by a warming climate and a more sheltered environment with the rapid expansion of arboriculture both in gardening and large scale forestry. Most recently attempts have been started at hybridisation of roses starting from the most promising and attractive of the imported varieties (Photo 7). This effort is likely to increase in the future. The Rose list – Rose trials The Club has already established a list of 100 recommended varieties and species roses based on the experience of veteran members. (See www.gardurinn.is/Files/Skra_0014042.PDF The list of roses classifies the varieties in 3 categories of hardiness as related to relevant Icelandic growing conditions.


Photo 7 Minister Guðni Ágústsson witnessing the first planting of an Icelandic rose produced by crossing varieties. Photo: Nína Ísberg. The list was officially launched by the then Minister of Agriculture, Guðni Ágústsson at an open celebration in June 2006. The Club has each year since its foundation selected 25-30 new varieties for import from rose-growers in Europe (primarily Nordic Countries) and Canada. “The Rose Garden” The Club initiated in 2005 what must be

the Worlds most unusual rose garden on an exposed hill south of the town Hafnarfjörður south of Reykjavík on a land managed by the Hafnarfjörður Forestry Association. (See pictures from the formal opening on: www.gardurinn.is/Files/Skra_0014055.PDF ). The site is a south-west looking hillside among stone rubble left by the receding glacier at the termination of the last glacial period. The soil is originally glacial clay denuded by erosion, but which in recent decades had been planted with Alaskan lupines which have dominated the site and coloured the hills blue in early June. The lupines have now started to recede, leaving a rather fertile and organically enriched soil which rapidly is becoming infested with dandelions and grasses. Nearly 100 varieties of roses have been planted in this somewhat forbidding site by the Club members, 3 plants of each variety. So far the survival is surprisingly good and many have already started to bloom, - particularly the pimpinellifolias and the rugosas. There are currently plans being discussed with the City of Reykjavík to establish a more formal and traditional rose-garden inside one of the City Parks where a collection of roses for Iceland recommended by the Club can be demonstrated to the public under more normal conditions for home gardening. International contacts The Rose Club became a member of the Nordic Association of Rose Societies after 14 members attended the Nordic Rose-weekend for the first time in Denmark in 2006. That was a mind blowing experience for the Icelanders given the outstanding success of the Danes in rose-growing and traditions in rose propagation - topped only by the excellent weather during this weekend long party which showed roses at their best

(Photos 8 and 9). PHOTO 8 Engulfed by roses. How do the Danes do this! Photo: Vilhjálmur Lúðvíksson. In 2007 the Rose Club was accepted as a member of the World Federation of Rose Societies and exchanged mutual membership recognition with the most venerable Royal National Rose Society of Great Britain.


PHOTO 9 Icelandic Club members attending the Nordic Roseweekend in Denmark 2006. Photo: Peter Jordt. In the summer of 2007 22 members of the Icelandic Rose Club paid a visit to the Finnish Rose Society on a tour of rose-gardens and rose-growing establishments in Southern Finland (Photos 10 and 11).

PHOTO 10 Inspecting Finnish roses. Photo: Nína Ísberg. The hard work of the Finns in searching for and defining new or rediscovering lost varieties of hardy Finnish roses greatly impressed the Icelandic Club members.

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