Question
Canada?    Here I am in Maine.   Forgive me for not being able to use plant terminology.  The flower I want to identify was given to me among a group of seedlings.  There is a single stem with smooth, rounded leaves that come to a point.  They are opposite each other on the stem and two to three inches long.   It has just started to blossom recently.   The blossoms appear near the top of the stem.   They resemble roses. are soft and have no discernable odor.   Of the three plants I have two are light purple and one is white.  I know not if they come in other colors.

Answer
Hi Leah:

There are a few plants that have flowers resembling a rose But if the flower is relatively the same size as a rose I'd say it is a begonia. If you want to prove it there are many sites and seed companies on the web that have pictures. Just type in begonia and see what you come up with.

Begonias are one of my favorite plants. They come in a variety of colors and are shade plants . In other words they will take morning and evening sun, but will wilt and not do well in all day sun. They are beautiful in a hanging basket or planter.

There are different kinds of begonias, but the two kinds that we in colder climates grow are annuals with roots and ones that come from bulbs. If they are bulbs you can save the bulbs for another year, but if you got yours as a seedling and it is just blooming now it is probably the kind with just roots.

The seed is rather expensive and they are finicky to grow and without a greenhouse it will take a few months to get them to the blooming stage.

If you want to buy some plants next year try the Non-stop variety. 2 of these will make a very full basket. They are tuberous and you can save the tubers for another year. In fact they sell just the tubers for starting indoors, but not of this variety. If you do write me again and I will tell you how to save them and start them again in the early spring.

Hope this helps                              Myrna

On second thought your plant could be balsam too. Does the flower grow along the stem and is it partly covered by the leaves.

Balsam is a relative of impatiens and is very easy to grow from seed.

Really there is no way I can give you a definitive answer when I can't see the plant. The 2 I mentioned are the most likely ones but there are others.

You can try looking through seed companies catalogues on line and see if you can find it. Try veseys seeds, stokes seeds, Dominion seeds or t+t seeds.
                                         Myrna