Rose Red Leonardo da Vinci

Compact, cluster-flowered Floribunda ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ renowned for its exceptionally full, quartered flowers in a saturated garnet-crimson to red-purple range, set against dense, glossy dark-green foliage. It combines the romantic, old-rose flower shape associated with the breeder’s ROMANTICA® roses with the repeat flowering, manageable habit, and garden durability expected of a modern bedding rose. Its flowers are unusually full even by nostalgic Floribunda standards and plants have strong resistance to black spot.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ belongs among the compact, recurrent-flowering cluster roses bred by Meilland and used for beds, low hedges, mass planting, containers, and mixed borders. Its particular attraction lies in the contrast between plant scale and flower complexity: the compact plants produce in abundance old-fashioned flowers deep, very double cups that become quartered rosettes as they mature. The overlapping petals create an intentionally historic appearance, while the plant beneath them retains the dense growth, glossy foliage, and repeated flower production of a modern landscape rose. In this respect it illustrates an important direction in late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century rose breeding: the recovery of Old garden rose form and combining it with repeat flowering, plant health, and manageable proportions. Meilland accordingly markets it within the aesthetic tradition of its ‘Romantica’ roses.

FLOWERING

Flowering of this rose variety is recurrent and prolonged. In temperate European conditions the flowering season normally extends from June into October, sometimes later where autumn remains mild. Rather than producing one uninterrupted mass of flowers at exactly equal density, the plant tends to move through successive flushes: a strong early-summer flush is followed by shorter intervals of renewal and further substantial flowering during summer and early autumn. The effective flowering season extends over roughly five to six months, the flowering almost continuous.

The individual stems commonly carry several flowers together, with approximately two to fifteen flowers per stem, though the number visible simultaneously depends on vigor and season. Because the flowers are medium to large and exceptionally full, even a comparatively small cluster produces considerable visual mass. From a distance the plant therefore reads as a dense block of dark red. This makes it effective not only as a specimen but also in repeated groups, low flowering hedges, and foreground plantings where continuity of color is more important than exhibition-stem form. Deadheading spent clusters generally encourages a tidier and faster return to bloom, although the cultivar is naturally recurrent. In climates with long growing seasons, modest feeding after the first flush and consistent moisture during hot weather help maintain the strength of later cycles. Toward autumn, feeding should no longer encourage soft growth in cold continental gardens, allowing the canes to mature before hard frost.

Flower bud:

The flower bud is medium-sized, ovoid, and approximately 2 cm (¾ in) long before opening. When the calyx breaks the petals already display intense dark coloured, classified as strong red (around RHS Red Group 53C), heavily suffused with brighter vivid red (RHS Red Group 45A). A small yellowish basal zone, close to approximately light yellow green (RHS Yellow Group 2C), may be present while the petal is still enclosed, but this basal marking ceases to be conspicuous in the mature flower.

There are five sepals, described as lanceolate and 3 of 5 sepals are furnished with a few small foliaceous extensions. The peduncle is comparatively rigid, of medium thickness, and averages approximately 4 cm (1½ in) in length. That firmness is useful because the peduncle must support a remarkably heavy flower. Buds begin with a compact, rather formal outline; the opening flower may initially appear somewhat turbinated before the interior loosens and assumes its characteristic romantic quartered form.

Because so many petals must expand from a relatively compact bud, the first stage of opening can occasionally look crumpled or irregular, especially in cool conditions. Once the inner petals separate, the form becomes much more obviously rosette. The flowers of this rose are unusually resistant to rain for such a full rose, although prolonged cold saturation can impair the perfect opening of almost any flower containing more than one hundred petals.

Bloom:

The flowers of the rose variety ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ are very full, cupped upon opening and later open to quartered rosette, with densely imbricated petals arranged around the receptacle. The flowers are medium to large in size, with a diameter of the open flower of approximately 9 - 10 cm (3½–4 in), while in larger clusters they appear smaller, near 8 cm (3¼ in). Flowers commonly contain at least 100 petals, with variation often between 100 to 132 petals per flower.

The colour of the flowers is richer and more complex than the simple word “red” suggests. When the flower fully opens the colour transitions to vivid purplish red (RHS Red-Purple Group 57C) extensively suffused with the deeper purple red (Group 57A). To the eye this produces a saturated dark crimson, garnet-red, or raspberry-crimson impression, sometimes developing a wine-red or purplish shades as the flower matures. It is therefore less scarlet and fiery than some modern red Floribundas and more velvety and old-fashioned in effect. The dark-green foliage intensifies this depth of colour.

The flowers are borne in clusters, frequently with several blooms open at different stages. Their form changes attractively with age: an initially compact flower relaxes into a broad, intricately quartered rosette. The interior center may divide visually into several small sectors or whorls, recalling old Gallica, Bourbon, and Portland rose flower forms even though the plant itself is a modern Floribunda. This old-rose appearance is central to the cultivar’s ornamental identity.

Individual blooms are also relatively durable. Their petal density, firm texture and rain resistance allow the clusters to remain decorative for a useful period, and the flowers of this rose are also recommended for cutting as well as garden display. It is not primarily a florist’s long-stemmed rose, however: its greatest strength is the cumulative effect of many romantic flowers carried over a rounded bush.

Petals:

The petals of the arrangement is the most unusual morphological feature of ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’. Approximately 100 to 132 petals in a single mature flower transforms the bloom into an elaborate rosette: they overlap strongly and are imbricated, with the innermost portion arranged in a conspicuously quartered pattern.

The petal texture is thick, smooth and sufficiently strong to withstand rain and heat. The petals detach cleanly from the plant after the flowers are spent. The colour generally remains strongly saturated during the life of the bloom, with maturity tending toward deeper red-purple tones. In intense sun and heat some change in shade is inevitable, as with nearly all dark red roses, but they do not fade quickly and fade slowly, typically without edges getting scorched.

Fragrance:

Fragrance is secondary to flower form and colour. Rose ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ has just a slight to negligible aroma.

Reproductive parts:

In the very full flower of this rose the reproductive center is largely hidden by petaloids, and stamens remain mostly hidden. The cultivar is nevertheless demonstrably capable of female fertility: ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ was subsequently recorded as the seed parent in another breeding cross, showing that at least under controlled hybridizing conditions it can set viable seed.

PLANT

‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ is a modern Rosa hybrid bred by Meilland and formally classified as Floribunda rose. It belongs among the compact, repeat flowering cluster roses used for beds, low hedges, mass planting, containers, and mixed borders. The RHS currently places the cultivar within its Polyantha grouping - European horticultural usage has long allowed some overlap between the terms Polyantha, cluster-flowered bedding rose, and Floribunda, whereas modern English-language rose classification generally reserves Floribunda for cultivars combining comparatively substantial flowers with the clustered, free-flowering character inherited historically from Polyantha breeding.

The mature and well-established plants of this rose normally remain around 60 - 85 cm (2 - 3 ft) high and approximately 60 - 70 cm (2 - 2.3 ft) wide, although favorable conditions can produce plants approaching to 100 cm (3.3 ft ), reflecting the effect of climate, soil, pruning, rootstock, and length of the growing season. The plant is bushy, vigorous, densely foliated, and sufficiently compact for formal beds while retaining enough natural volume to work in mixed borders. It is particularly effective planted in groups, where the repeated crimson rosettes create a continuous area of color, but a well-grown single specimen can also be striking beside silver, blue, white, or pale-pink companion planting. Meilland additionally recommends it for low hedges, containers, balconies or terraces, and cut flowers.

Full sun normally gives the strongest flowering and most compact habit. The cultivar can tolerate some light partial shade, but persistent shade reduces flower production and can prolong leaf wetness. A fertile, humus-rich, moisture-retentive yet freely drained soil is ideal. The plants of ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ show suitability for clay, loam, chalk, and sandy soils over a broad pH range, provided drainage and fertility are satisfactory. Heavy ground should be improved structurally rather than merely fed, because stagnant winter moisture is considerably more harmful to the root system than ordinary cold.

Pruning follows normal Floribunda practice. In late winter or early spring, after the greatest danger of severe frost has passed, dead, diseased, damaged, excessively weak, or badly crossing stems should be removed and the remaining framework shortened to encourage a balanced supply of new flowering shoots. Older plants can periodically have one or two aging basal canes removed to encourage renewal. During summer, deadheading back to a sound leaf or lateral shoot keeps the bush neat and assists rapid rebloom.

Foliage:

Foliage is one of the cultivar’s strongest non-floral features. It is dense, dark green, glossy and leathery, providing an unusually substantial background for the intensely colored flowers. The young growth may emerge wine-red before maturing to dark green, adding a short-lived ornamental contrast in spring and after pruning. The foliage is medium sized; its gloss and leathery texture also contribute to the polished appearance associated with modern Meilland landscape roses.

Leaflets:

The normal leaves in the middle of the flowering stem typically have 5 leaflets, with occasionally variations to 7 leaflets, including the terminal leaflets. Leaves are alternate and pinnately compound. Individual leaflets are generally elliptical to slightly ovate, terminating in an acute to cuspidate apex and having a broadly rounded base. The margins are serrated and the surface is leathery.; the type of serration is small and single. Morphologically, the foliage conforms to the familiar modern hybrid rose pattern of a central rachis bearing paired lateral leaflets and a terminal leaflet, with pinnate secondary venation extending toward the toothed margin.

Wood:

The plant produces a compact, freely branching framework with sufficiently strong growth to support its heavy flower clusters. The growth character is strong and the general habit is bushy. Peduncles are comparatively rigid, an important mechanical feature given the weight of flowers containing more than one hundred petals. New shoots may show wine-red pigmentation before becoming mature green and ultimately woody, the bark is smooth. Unlike its climbing parent, rose ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ does not normally produce long climbing canes; its principal horticultural form is of a rounded bedding shrub.

Prickles:

There is a normal quantity of the prickles present on the main canes of this rose while of the laterals from the main canes there are typically fewer prickles. The prickles are substantial in size, and have mostly pyramidal shape with the tip curving downward; the upper surface is curved and the lower surface slightly concave. The colour of the young prickles is dark wine red and they mature to brown colour. For gardeners, normal rose-handling precautions are appropriate. Gloves are useful during pruning and when removing old flowering clusters, particularly where several shoots have grown together inside the compact crown.

Small prickles:

Under normal growing conditions the small prickles are not observed on the main canes and on the laterals from the main canes of the rose variety ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’.

Disease resistance and stress tolerance:

Disease resistance is among the cultivar’s strongest qualities. ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ has very good disease resistance, particularly with respect to black spot. For that rose received ADR recognition in 2005 and was successfully recognized again in the ADR repeat evaluation in 2023, an unusually valuable indication that the cultivar retained practical landscape merit well after its initial introduction. Black spot resistance should therefore be considered as genuinely strong. This does not mean immunity. Severe disease pressure, infected neighboring roses, prolonged leaf wetness, nutritional stress, or a highly susceptible local pathogen population can still produce symptoms. This rose also shows good resistance to powdery mildew and rust, which support the claim that ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ is a robust garden rose.

Winter hardiness is good for a modern Floribunda. The RHS assigns hardiness rating H6, corresponding approximately to minimum temperatures of −20 to −15 °C (−4 to 5 °F), and this makes it suitable for growing in climates similar to around USDA zone 6 or 6b. In colder or exposed Zone 6 gardens, especially where freeze-thaw cycles and drying winds occur, mulching or mounding the base after the ground begins to freeze is obligatory. Grafted plants benefit particularly from protection around the bud union, and container-grown specimens require considerably more root protection than when planted in open ground.

The commercial name ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ clearly associates the cultivar with Meilland’s established pink ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ and emphasizes its analogous romantic flower structure in a red palette. Meilland presents the rose as a garnet-red interpretation of the celebrated ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ style, which explains why catalogues sometimes loosely call it a red “version” or “form.” Such language is horticultural marketing rather than a statement of genetic origin: the breeding patent proves that ‘MEIangele’ arose from its own controlled cross.

The earlier pink ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ was itself named for Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance artist, engineer, observer of nature, and polymath whose final years were spent at Clos Lucé in France. Meilland records that the name was chosen in association with the Clos Lucé heritage. The addition of “Red” therefore communicates both flower color and membership in a recognizable commercial aesthetic rather than direct descent from the pink cultivar.

The name ‘Hilde Umdasch’ was given to honour a pioneer for Women in Global Industry. Following the death of her father, Hilde Umdasch became Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Umdasch AG in 1990 - at a time when female leadership at the top of major international industrial companies was still exceptionally rare.

‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ has a significant verified trial record. In 2005 it received ADR recognition in Germany under the Allgemeine Deutsche Rosenneuheitenprüfung, the General German Rose Novelty Trials, where it is registered as ADR No. 0217. The official ADR record further notes a successful repeat recognition in 2023, important because ADR repeat assessment is intended to determine whether older award-winning cultivars continue to meet modern expectations for garden performance and health; this 2023 result is therefore best understood as renewed confirmation of the cultivar rather than as a separate newly bestowed cultivar name or introduction award.

In 2011 ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ received a Silver Certificate at the International Rose Trials in The Hague, Netherlands. This distinction provides an additional independent European trial acknowledgment several years after the cultivar’s introduction.

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

The rose variety ‘MEIangele’ / ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ was bred in France by Alain Meilland. The selection was propagated and evaluated at Le Cannet-des-Maures in the Var department of France. It arose from a deliberate artificial pollination of the seed parent Shrub rose ‘Rote Max Graf’ with the pollen parent - unnamed and unpatented rose which in its turn was a result of cross pollination of the Large-Flowered Climber ‘Cassandre’ with the pollen parent Shrub rose ‘Bonica’.

Thus the documented parentage can be expressed with the following formula:

  ‘Kormax’/ ‘Rote Max Graf’ × [‘Meideuji’ / ‘Cassandre’ × ‘Meidomonac’ / ‘Bonica’]

This parentage is particularly important because it disproves the frequently repeated assumption that ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ must be a red-flowered mutation of Meilland’s earlier pink ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ / ‘Meideauri’. The two cultivars are connected commercially and aesthetically, but the patent record gives ‘MEIangele’ / ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ an independent breeding origin.

The cultivar entered commerce in the first years of the twenty-first century and is generally listed by Meilland with an introduction date of 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE VARIETY

‘MEIangele’ / ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ represents a later refinement of Floribunda roses breeding philosophy. Its flowers would have seemed astonishingly complex beside the small, open clusters of early Polyanthas: one flower may contain more than one hundred petals, yet the plant retains the repeated clustered bloom and practical dimensions associated with bedding roses. Meilland deliberately exploited an old-fashioned cupped and quartered flower architecture. It therefore belongs to the modern “nostalgic” movement in rose breeding, in which historic flower form is combined with contemporary remontancy and health.

The rose remains relevant because it combines several characteristics that are still difficult to obtain simultaneously in dark red roses. Very densely petalled flowers can be vulnerable to wet weather; dark red cultivars can be sparse, stiff, or disease-prone; and compact Floribundas sometimes sacrifice individual flower character for sheer quantity. ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ achieves a convincing compromise: complex flowers, strong repeat, compact architecture, attractive foliage, and strong health.

SUMMARY OF THE VARIETY

‘MEIangele’ / ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ is a compact, vigorous Floribunda whose great ornamental distinction is the union of an old-fashioned quartered rosette with the repeated flowering and dense foliage of a modern landscape rose. The ADR record, including successful later reassessment, gives unusual weight to its reputation as a genuinely useful garden cultivar that incorporated the following unique combination of characteristics:

  exceptionally full, cupped and quartered garnet-red flowers, commonly containing approximately 100 - 132 petals;

  compact, bushy Floribunda growth with dense, leathery, dark-green glossy foliage;

  prolonged recurrent flowering in clusters from early summer well into autumn;

  very good restance to black spot, supported by ADR trial recognition;

  Old garden rose floral architecture combined with the practical habit and garden performance of a modern bedding rose.

The propagation methods suitable for the rose cultivar ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ include: vegetative propagation by budding, grafting, and cuttings.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTS

The seed parent, SHrub rose ‘Rote Max Graf’, differs dramatically from ‘MEIangele’ / ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’. Rose ‘Rote Max Graf’ produces essentially single flowers of approximately six petals, whereas ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ commonly carries at least one hundred, forms deep, quartered rosettes rather than open single blooms. ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ is also a compact, repeatedly flowering garden rose rather than expressing the more spreading ground-cover character associated with ‘Rote Max Graf’.

Its pollen parent was an unnamed seedling produced from ‘Cassandre’ × ‘Bonica’, so comparison must be made with that documented parental combination rather than treating either grandparent as the actual male parent.

‘Cassandre’ is a vigorous Climbing rose with cardinal-red flowers and a growth potential exceeding 2 m; ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’, by contrast, concentrates its vigor into compact plants. ‘Cassandre’ also carries far fewer petals, around two dozen, whereas‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ develops its remarkable hundred-petalled rosettes.

‘Bonica’ presents the opposite contrast in color. Its flowers are light to medium pink, smaller, and considerably less full than those of ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’, while its growth is a free-branching, highly floriferous shrub. ‘Bonica’ in the garden displays vigor, hardiness, abundant clustered flowering, and exceptionally good disease resistance. It would be reasonable to observe that these are characteristics also found phenotypically in ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’, but without genetic trait-mapping it would be inappropriate to claim that any individual characteristic was inherited specifically from ‘Bonica’.

COMPARISON WITH THE CLOSEST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CULTIVAR

The most meaningful commercial comparison is Meilland’s pink Floribunda ‘Leonardo da Vinci’. It is not the genetic parent or source sport of ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’, but it is the cultivar with which the red rose is deliberately associated by name, breeder presentation, and flower style. Both belong to Meilland’s romantic old-rose aesthetic and produce densely double, quartered flowers over compact, repeat-flowering bushes with dark-green foliage.

Their most obvious distinction is color. ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ produces a clear, medium to vivid Bengal pink, whereas ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ develops deep garnet, crimson, and red-purple tones. The red cultivar is also significantly more petal-rich in the published descriptions: approximately 100 - 132 petals are recorded for ‘Leonardo da Vinci’, compared with about 75 - 80 for the pink ‘Meideauri’. Consequently, ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ can look denser and more tightly packed, particularly during the first half of flower opening.

The two are broadly similar in flower diameter, with modern Meilland descriptions placing both near 8 cm. ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ is generally the more upright and potentially larger plant, typically around 70 - 110 cm under good conditions and capable of producing unusually long shoots in warm climates. ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ is normally more consistently compact and rounded, often remaining near 60 - 85 cm. Both have strong rain tolerance and good foliage health.

Fragrance provides only a small distinction. Neither should be chosen as a major perfume rose, but the pink ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ has light scent with green apple and freshly cut grass notes, while the red cultivar is lightly scented. For a pale or romantic border, the pink cultivar gives a lighter, softer and slightly more upright effect. For stronger color contrast, formal bedding, dark-red mass planting, or association with white and silver foliage, ‘Red Leonardo da Vinci’ is generally the more dramatic choice.

USDA 6

USDA Zone 6 - hardiness guide