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| Rosa 'Emily Carr' & Graham Walker's beautiful design |
Every day
since Rosemary brought our family from Mexico City in 1975, I have thanked her over and
over. Now with her gone on 9 December 2020, I have not changed that. I think
about her and how I live in a stable country that is free of the animosity in
other countries. Thanks to her financial acumen I don’t have to worry about
where my next Canadian Dollar is coming from.
For years It
seems I was the only person around who knew the story of how the Canadian Maple
Leaf Flag came to be. I was friends with the man responsible in finding a
designer, Jacques St-Cyr, and how the ultimate design, adding an extra leaf
point happened in Patrick Reid’s kitchen. Before he died, when I would spot him
walking in Kerrisdale’s 41st Avenue, I would talk to him marvelling
at the fact that I was chatting with a living flag designer!
Today then, has to be a day full of red. For me there is nothing more symbolic of a BC
Canada Day than my Rosa ‘Emily Carr’. It is a scandal that this rose introduced
in 2007 in Morden, Manitoba is a rose that is hardy in every province in
Canada. And yet, in the Lower Mainland, it is not available. By luck I found it
five years ago at UBC’s Shop in the Garden.
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| Rosa 'Emily Carr' 1 July 2026 |