BC Living
Recipe: B.C. Beef and Potatoes
You’ve Gotta Try This in February 2025
Recipe: How to Make Pie Crust from Scratch
Attention, Runners: Here are 19 Road Races Happening in B.C. in Spring 2025
Nature’s Pharmacy: 8 Herbal Boutiques in BC
How Barre Enhances Your Flexibility
Inviting the Steller’s Jay to Your Garden
6 Budget-friendly Holiday Decor Pieces
Dream Home: $8 Million for a Modern Surprise
Local Getaway: Hideaway at a Mystical Earth House in Kootenay
9 BC Wellness Hotels to Relax and Recharge in This Year
Local Getaway: Enjoy Waterfront Views at a Ucluelet Beach House
B.C. Adventures: Things to Do in February
5 Beautiful and Educational Nature and Wildlife Tours in BC
7 Beauty and Wellness Influencers to Follow in BC
11 Gifts for Galentine’s Day from B.C. Companies
14 Cute Valentine’s Day Gifts to Give in 2025
8 Gifts to Give for Lunar New Year 2025
“What is your favourite rose,” people ask. “Today…” I begin. They are, of course, all favourites or I wouldn’t keep them, but some I await more eagerly than others: ‘Alain Blanchard’ for its dapple of deep purple and crimson; ‘La Ville de Bruxelles’ for the precision with which its pink petals overlay each other; ‘Ispahan’ for its scent and wealth of bloom; ‘Sombreuil’ for its rich tea fragrance. Among the ramblers, there’s ‘Goldfinch’, one of the few yellows among these old varieties, ‘Veilchenblau’ with clusters of violet-blue flowers and a scent of green apples, thorny ’Albertine with large dishevelled blooms of coppery pink, and ’Francis E. Lester’ whose delicate pink and white flowers float above its foliage. Graceful ‘Félicité Perpétue’ magically produces pure-white rosettes from hot-pink buds, while its sister rose, ’Adelaide d’Orleans’, trails delicate garlands of soft-pink buds and fragrant, milk-white flowers. In bloom, massive Rosa mulliganii is a feast for both eyes and nose, and another vigorous species, Rosa brunonii has the most beautiful foliage—twilight colours of sage and plum—to complement its small, slightly crumpled white flowers, whose petals have a satin sheen as if touched by moonlight. My favourite small rambler, ‘Ghislaine de Féligonde’ climbs a mere 3.5 m (12 ft.) over the terrace to mingle with a purple grapevine. Though lacking scent, it has fresh, fern-like foliage and effervescent clusters of flowers aging from egg-yolk orange through peach to cream. It is the only rambler I know to flower continuously and is often bravely sporting frosted buds in November. —Christine Allen