Famed Italian rose breeder Sergio Patrucco dies at 72

Sergio Patrucco pictured here with his daughter Sabrina.

Sergio Patrucco, the award-winning rose breeder whose rose varieties pleased so many, has died. He was 72.

Patrucco died of a heart attack on Sunday 23 June in the hospital of Monaco, according to his long-time friend Arturo Croci.

Sergio Patrucco and Arturo Croci in 1999.

Sergio’s business, officially known as under the long name Patrucco Rose di Diano San Pietro-Diano Castello, came a long way. It started humbly in 1946 with Sergio’s father, Luciano Patrucco, founding a modest rose nursery focused on the selection and trade of rose rootstocks. This first business endevour later progressed into a 15ha rose breeding and propagation company in Diano San Pietro in the province of Imperia, a good one hour drive from Monaco.

When Luciano died in 1995 at a relatively young age of 71, his son took over of what by then was an already blossoming breeding programme aimed at creating the best rose varieties for colourful rose hips, sold under the brandname Frutti dell’Amore. Industry veterans among us will remind Patrucco’s lavishly decked out stand at what was then the Internationale Bloemenvaktentoonstelling Aalsmeer, later Horti Fair.

With a winning combination of passion and know how Sergio selected and grew rose rootstocks to subsequently branch out into rose selection and breeding.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Sergio and his team bred their roses to last. The  varieties produced spectacular, long-lasting blooms, marked by PATbol, PATale, PATgri, PATanco, and PATori. These denominations help to quickly identify the variety’s origins.

Running through the veines of many Patrucco roses is Dallas blood, the famed rose created by German breeder Kordes but introduced to the commercial cut flower industry by Patrucco.

Sergio Patrucco was a rose connaisseur but also a passionate biker.

Patrucco used mutants of this iconic rose to create ‘Dallas Colorado’,  ‘Dallas Malizia’, ‘Dallas Pinta’, ‘Dallas Pink’,  and ‘Dallas Yellow’ , successful varieties that helped Patrucco gain recognition in the global cut flower market.

Patrucco acted also as a distributor and showcase for roses bred by other European breeders. With many he developed long term collaboration and friendships, notably with the Kordes family from Sparrieshoop, Germany.

Sergio also had fond memories of a Dutch rose breeder, the late and aimable Hette Spek. When Hette died on 29 May 2015, Sergio remembered him as “a remarkable visionary entrepreneur who humbly taught you things that you alone could never have discovered. It was not without reason that the world’s greatest rose breeders entrusted Hette with the launch of their new varieties.”

Patrucco deserves credit for being one of the first company to focus on roses that produce the best hips (or what is botanically speaking a false fruit) for flower arrangements.

Sergio’s experience and understanding of consumer and fashion trends helped him design other  imaginative new roses such as ‘Passion Rouge’, ‘Vera Indica Mayor’,  ‘Evita’ and ‘Giubileo’ to meet the latest demands.

Standing out most prominently, however, is the company’s Frutti Dell Amore porfolio that includes well-known varieties such as ‘Corallo’, ‘Rubino’ and ‘Zaffiro’.

Patrucco deserves credit for being one of the first company to focus on roses that produce the best hips (or what is botanically speaking a false fruit) for flower arrangements.

Among his awards are the Honorary Citizenship, which the city of Sanremo – Northern Italy’s epicentre of cut flower and cut foliage production – granted him in 1998. Few green professionals, among which carnations breeders Quinto Mansuino and Giacomo Nobbio, have been so honoured.

In 2004, Patrucco was one of the winners of the Silver Carnation Awards, which recognise excellence and innovation in the field of business management, floriculture, journalism, public governance, and floral design.

Sergio is survived by his wife Gabriella, his daugthers Sabrina and Pamela, and his son Luciano.

Luciano and Sabrina provide continuity in the Patrucco business that besides is rose core business also looks to diversify in notably gourmet vegetables, potted herbs, carnivorous plants, mininature orchids and roses.