Maria Leonida

Maria Leonida

“Maria Leonida”, an ancient climber from 1832, is a hybrid of Bracteata (so called due to the presence of bracts, small protective leaves that cover the flower's calyx). It is a very vigorous plant, reaching about 8 meters, has soft branches and hooked thorns, double white flowers with curled inner petals, scent of tea rose, fresh, soft, sweet.

Another feature of this magnificent rose is its evergreen foliage. It is suitable for lining the walls of houses or climbing trees.

We have said that it is an ancient rose: by ancient roses we mean roses that were marketed or otherwise known before 1867 and obtained from various crosses with species roses, that is wild roses.  Species roses arrived in our continent in ancient times, especially from Southeast Asia, China, Mongolia, but also from North America.

Among these we remember r.canina, r.gallica, r.chinensis, of which we spoke for the “Bella di Monza”, and r.moschata. These roses usually had 5-12 petals and bloomed only once, with the exception of the chinensis.

On the other hand, ancient roses can be remontant. These too are divided into various groups: the Alba, the Banksiae, the Bourbon, the Damascena, the Moss, the Noisette, the Tea and others that we will meet later.

Ancient roses are classified on the basis of historical, botanical and genetic parameters, sometimes with discordant results due to the often uncertain origin.