Includes photo(s).
 
Sofia...Kaarina Joensuu took a root shot in the 1960s from a cemetery, next to a relative's tombstone, and planted it in her home at Saloinen, Brahestad. In the mid 1980s or 1990s, Jari Särkkä saw this for the first time there. 'Sofia' grows to a 1,8 m tall impressive shrub, and can spread with root suckers. Foliage is slightly smoother than its class. Bloming begins in lateJune and lasts 3-4 weeks. The blooms are semi-double, pink to violet-ed, 10 cm in diameter. The first scent immpression is medium strong, the heart note is smooth and good. The heps are similar to rugosa heps. Hardiness is at least I-V.

(2012)  
 
'Sointu' 'Snow Pavement' x R.polyantha-seedling, 1994
Pirkko Kahila: Rosa 'Sointu' (Rugosa-group)
'Sointu' comes from a crossing of 'Snow pavement' (Rugosa-group) x polyantha rose (polyantha-group), which was made in 1994 at the University of Helsinki plant breeding at Viikki...The pollen parent is the so-called 'Angel Rose', whose seeds are sold and which is used like a summer flower. From sowing to blooming takes 5-6 months, forming a low shrub with small white or pink blooms in large clusters. The history of Angel roses is a mystery....
The shrub is dense, rounded, more than a meter in height. The branches are erect, with brownish grey bark and densely prickled. The foliage is medium green, wrinkled, small. The autumn colour is brownsih yellow.
The bush flowers on old shoots and on new shoots in the same summer. The main flowering begins in southern Finland in late June and lasts for 2-3 weeks. After that new shoots and bud clusters grow continuously or at short interbvals, until even late in autumn. If the bush is well fertilized and watered, there is constant new growth and almost constant bloom. Drought or a heat wave stops shoot formation.
The blooms are in clusters of from a few to twenty flowers. The individual bloom is 4-5 cm, flat, semi-double. The expanding bloom is pink, fading to white....In very warm summers, the pink phase of the bloom is short and the bush seems almost white. Yellow stamens. The scent is myrrh-like and is felt best in cool weather and at the end of summer. Hips are not formed at all.