If the year 2019 celebrates 500 years of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, it also marks 500 years of the birth of Catherine de Medici. From 1550 to 1560, the Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire was the property of this iconic queen, wife of King Henry II. In 2019, the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, Center for Arts and Nature, dedicates a rose. In his work “Practiques” and “practiqueurs”: the political life at the end of the reign of Henri III (1584-1589), Xavier Le Person evokes a walk of Catherine de Medici with the Cardinal of Bourbon: “This walk in the garden may well have been thought by Catherine of Medici, inspired in this by her culture and the humanistic speculations on the philosophical power and soothing gardens, as a place to promote the wandering of thought, source of a possible political relaxation and openness at a time when negotiations did not seem to be moving forward.”

The rose, nicknamed the “queen of flowers”, whose history is littered with symbols and legends, honored by Pierre de Ronsard – the major figure of the Renaissance poetic literature – enchants the gardens with its flower corollas and perfumes. It was so obvious, for the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, to pay tribute to Catherine de Medici, baptizing a rose in his name. The rose Catherine de Medici is a rose bush erect, generous, pink, developing a rich and subtle perfume with citric and fruity accords in the top note, sweet and balanced in the note of heart. It flowers from June to October and can be used in the gardens or planted in pots or on the balconies and terraces. A great floridity, vigorous vegetation, healthy foliage all year long and great resistance to diseases characterize this rose. The rose Catherine de Medici is a selection of the company Globe Planter® in partnership with the German rose grower Kordes Rosen. Around the world, the creators of ornamental varieties make to evolve plants towards more harmonious silhouettes, better resistance to diseases, bad weather, and unpublished colors. The baptism of the rose Catherine de Medici took place at the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire on Friday, June 21, in the presence of François Bonneau, President of the Center-Val de Loire Region.

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