DONATELLA® Romantica® – pharmaROSA® NEONATAL rooted cutting for professional production
Fragrance and flower quality make DONATELLA® Romantica® a compelling own-root propagation choice for premium container hybrid tea production, where remontant flowering and reliable disease resistance support consistent programme-level scheduling. Its upright, bush-trained habit with 3–5 strong canes suits 5–7 L premium containers and structured border or terrace applications, while dense, glossy foliage underpins an exclusive retail presentation and reduces visible gaps in benches or nursery beds. On own roots, plants form a durable framework for long-term stock beds and thematic rose gardens, delivering the familiar Year 1 roots, Year 2 framework, Year 3 full ornamental value development arc. With H7 hardiness down to -21 °C and resistance to major foliar diseases, it offers dependable performance, including in northern and more exposed UK sites where winter and wind tolerance support predictable capacity for nursery and reseller networks. Its XL, very double, rosette blooms combine cut-flower-grade form with a very strong, classic rosy scent, giving growers flexible positioning as a premium hybrid tea for border, specimen and terrace use. Own-root, tray-grown material in the pharmaROSA® NEONATAL system provides uniform, manageable young plants that integrate smoothly into container and premium hedge lines, helping maintain quality standards and stable availability across integrated wholesale supply.
Usage options
Finished-product ideas
- Premium 5–7 L Romantica® container – Own-root, bush-trained plants finished in 5–7 L pots, presented as an exclusive hybrid tea with XL light pink blooms and strong fragrance for flower-led, low-intervention premium container ranges – target: retail / reseller.
- Fragrance feature rose for show gardens – Selected batches grown on for high-bud-count, strongly remontant performance and stable disease resistance, supporting curated fragrance borders and thematic rose gardens – target: public-realm and show-garden projects.
- Cut-flower style patio hybrid tea – Compact, upright plants in 5–7 L containers marketed for terraces and patios, combining exhibition-type bloom form with repeat flowering and manageable maintenance needs – target: garden centres and patio specialists.
- Large 40–50 L specimen for display hire – Multi-year own-root specimens in 40–50 L containers, capitalising on strong fragrance, dense foliage and resilient framework for entrances, hospitality terraces and retail display contracts – target: event and contract suppliers.
- Collection-grade labelled cultivar – Clearly identified MEIkerira plants grown on in beds or containers, using the durable, disease-resistant, own-root framework to support long-term cultivar maintenance and educational plantings – target: botanic gardens and collection managers.
Technical cultivar profile
| Parameter |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Hybrid tea rose from the Romantica® collection with registered name MEIkerira; marketed as Donatella® Romantica® MEIkerira with ARS exhibition name Donatella and a female given-name meaning. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred in France by Michèle Meilland Richardier (Meilland International SA), with breeding completed in 2009 and registration aligned to that year; introduced commercially in 2011 via Meilland International (France). |
| Awards and recognition |
Recognised in multiple international rose trials with Gold Medals at Baden‑Baden, The Hague and Rome, as well as a dedicated Fragrance Award at Roeulx, underlining both ornamental and scent performance. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Upright hybrid tea bush reaching approximately 90–130 cm in height and 55–85 cm spread, with dense, dark glossy foliage, moderate prickliness and bush training recommended on 3–5 strong framework canes for structural stability. |
| Flower morphology |
Very double, XL-sized rosette blooms with more than 40 petals, carried mainly in clusters; strongly remontant with abundant repeat flowering and a weak self-cleaning habit, so spent blooms generally require manual removal in production and display. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Light-pink overall tone with ARS lp classification and RHS 65C outer, 65D inner; buds emerge mid-pink, opening to delicate pastel pink, then fading to a pale silvery-rose shade while maintaining generally uniform colour on both petal surfaces. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Very strongly scented with a classic rosy perfume that is long-lasting on the flower, giving a pronounced olfactory presence; dense petallage and concealed stamens indicate a primarily ornamental rather than pollinator-focused role in plantings. |
| Hip characteristics |
Hip set is slight because very double flowers and spent blooms are usually removed; where present, hips are ovoid, orange-red, around 10–14 mm in diameter and not a dominant ornamental feature in standard management. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Rated resistant to powdery mildew, black spot and rust, supporting low-intervention programmes; hardy to approximately -21 to -18 °C (USDA 6b, Swedish zone 3, RHS H7), providing reliable overwintering in most UK nursery and landscape settings. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Suited to borders, specimen use, cut-flower style garden planting, terraces, containers and low hedges; recommended for premium container production in 5–7 L pots, with low maintenance needs but regular deadheading advised for optimal presentation. |
DONATELLA® Romantica® MEIkerira combines award-backed flower quality, strong fragrance and disease-resistant, own-root reliability to support predictable, long-lived premium lines; please contact us to discuss capacity, assortment fit and scheduling.
