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 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 under the long name Patrucco Rose di Diano San Pietro-Diano Castello, has come 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 endeavour later progressed into a 15-ha 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 what by then was an already blossoming breeding programme aimed at creating the best rose varieties for colourful rose hips, sold under the brand name 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 his father’s footsteps, 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 identify the variety’s origins quickly.

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

Sergio Patrucco was a rose connoisseur 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 also distributed and showcased roses bred by other European breeders. He developed long-term collaborations and friendships with many, notably with the Kordes family from Sparrieshoop, Germany.

Sergio also had fond memories of a Dutch rose breeder, the late and amiable 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.

However, the company’s Frutti Dell Amore portfolio stands out most prominently, including 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 among the winners of the Silver Carnation Awards, which recognise excellence and innovation in business management, floriculture, journalism, public governance, and floral design.

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

Luciano and Sabrina provide continuity in the Patrucco business, which, in addition to its core rose business, is looking to diversify into gourmet vegetables, potted herbs, carnivorous plants, miniature orchids, and roses.