Newsletter  (May 2018)  Page(s) 39.  Includes photo(s).
 
Finns have also produced roses by crossing known varieties some of which also do well in Iceland. One such is 'Sointu' (‘Snow Pavement’ x [Rosa x Polyantha]), a very floriferous rugosa derivative released by the British born Peter Joy and his co-workers who started a rose breeding programme originally under a programme at the University of Helsinki.

Website/Catalog  (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.