Old Rose Nursery propagates and grows "own-root" roses for the mail order (Canada only), retail and wholesale markets. We began our nursery over fifteen years ago. It has grown to surround our original Hornby Island home and cottage garden. In the last few years the roses have taken over much of our old vegetable garden and the rose garden is still expanding! Our collection of more than 1000 varieties of roses, from which we propagate new plants, includes a wide range of varieties of climbing and rambling roses, Old Garden heritage roses, English roses, Rugosas, modern Shrub roses and their hybrids, Explorer roses, landscape and groundcover roses, and, of course, Species or wild roses. We continue to expand our display garden, adding new English, Rugosa, Floribunda and Climbing roses. The Rose display garden is open from late May through July, but it is at its peak in mid to late June.

Display Garden
We are licensed propagators of David Austin's English Roses and have a growing collection of them for display and propagation and hope to offer his newest releases in Canada as soon as we are permitted to do so. Newest in the display garden are "Mayflower", "Alwick Castle" "Benjamin Britten", "Jubilee Celebration", "The generous Gardener", "Christopher Marlowe", "Janet", "Chareles Darwin", "Grace", "Corvedale", "Mortimer Sackler", and "Spirit of Freedom. New varieties now available are "Ann Boleyn", "Crown Princess Margareta", Barbara Austin", Tess of the D'Urbevilles", "Teasing Georgia" and "Miss Alice". Please check our Rose Catalogue under English Roses.

We have recently been asked by David Austin Roses to grow their upcoming new releases for "Plant Breeder's Rights" (PBR) testing in Canada.

Click HERE to see photos of the gardens at Old Rose Nursery.

Our "Own-Root" Roses
We are pleased to see a strong demand for "own-root" roses by gardeners from across Canada. For many years we have been growing roses from cuttings from our more than 1000 "mother plants" which grow in our garden. Because the roses we propagate are not grafted on some other rootstock, any new shoots emerging from the base, especially after a hard winter's die-back, will be the same as the plant you purchased. The more tender varieties such as the Chinas, Hybrid Musks, Noisettes, Teas etc. have therefore a better chance of survival on their own roots during severe winters without the problem of pesky "alien" suckers growing from the rootstock. The new shoots will have the same flower, colour and fragrance as the original bloom. Plants on their own roots are not restricted in their growth habit by a single bud union and tend to live longer under the same growing conditions.

All of our rose plants are grown, shipped and sold in one gallon containers and are well established when sold. We over-winter the roses in our greenhouses and usually start shipping in early April, continuing through June, and again late September through November. We provide planting and maintenance instructions with the roses sold.

Using our Rose Catalogue
The roses listed in the charts are available at the time of listing. Supplies of some varieties are limited and we regret that we may unavoidably sell out for the season. They will be marked 'sold out' if we are out of them until next season. Other varieties will become available as the seasons change as we continually propagate our roses from our collection of over 1000 varieties. Because of the number we cannot propagate all of them in any one season. Watch for changes in our web site as we update. Sorry we do not ship to the USA.

Pricing
The prices listed reflect the size and age of plants available for the various varieties at the time of updating our catalogue or website. As new stock is introduced the plants may be somewhat smaller and we will discount them or provide a refund or credit. We will let you know at the time of invoicing prior to shipping. Please add appropriate taxes and the packaging fee when filling out the order form. Shipping costs are additional.

How to Find Us
We are located on Hornby Island along the main road, Central Road, two miles from the ferry dock. Our Nursery and display garden are open most afternoons from June to mid-August and on weekends in fall and spring or by appointment. Please phone ahead for specific hours or for an appointment. To get to Hornby Island you get off the new Island Highway at Buckley Bay, 20 km south of Courtenay on Vancouver Island. Catch the ferry to Denman Island (10 minutes) and then drive across Denman (20 minutes) to the Hornby Island ferry (10 minutes). At Buckley Bay your cost for the ferry includes the return trip. Hornby Island is a good place for picnics, parks, forest trail and beach walking.

Shipping (We do NOT ship outside Canada)
If you do not wish to come to the nursery, we can ship roses to you. Please let us know your preference after reveiwing our order information section. We deliver to the Comox Valley.

Membership
We are licensed to propagate David Austin English Roses and are members of the Canadian Ornamental Plant Federation (COPF), the B.C. Nursery Association, The Canadian Rose Society, The Vancouver Rose Society and The Vancouver Island Garden Association (VIGA).