Giovanni Casoretti (1797-1846) was the director of the Villa Traversi (ex Villa Cusani) in Desio / Monza, not far from Milan.
He also bred magnolias, camellias, rhododendrons...
[From The Gardener's Magazine, 1836, p. 445ff] Botanical and Horticultural Tour in Lombardy. By Signor Giuseppe Manetti.
....Desio is a large village, about four leagues north of Milan, and about one and a half north-west from Monza. ..... There are several villas in Desio; but the most beautiful is that called La Casino [corrected to La Cusani], which is now the property of Signor Traversi.... In the parterre, which is in the Italian style, and situated before the green-house, there is a rich collection of roses, amongst which there are several of great beauty, procured by the present director, Giovanni Casoretti, whose abilities, intelligence, and politeness are beyond eulogium. The names of these roses are as follows: — Hayez, Traversi, Maffeis, Strambio, Cabrisi [corrected to Cabrini], Byron, Rossini, la rose tendre, la Padulli, la marchese, la color di paglia, la trompeuse, la belle Judith, l'Elodie, la Bartolotti [corrected to Bertolotti], and la Pirzi..... Every method of propagation is used by Signor Casoretti. The rose is multiplied by slit-grafting, at all times of the year, with complete success.
[From Descrizoni della Città di Monza, by A. Perpenti, 1842, p. 55]: [The author describes Villa Traversi in Desio] ...For these reasons it must be prized the great ability of Mr. Giovanni Casoretti, talented botanist, who being superintendent and director of the garden, thanks to his theoretical and practical cognitions, with assiduous cares and resourceful inventions, gets such wonderful results, difficult to see elsewhere. He is also very prompt, stimulated by the excellent owner of the Villa, in getting the rarest plants that are constantly transported to Paris and London from every corner of the world, in accustoming them to the local soil and climate, in multiplying them to obtain not only new plants but also startling varieties, as you can see from the outstanding results obtained with Azaleas, Camellias, Magnolias, Peonies, Pelargonia, Verbenas and Roses. [A list of plants follows]
[From The Rose Annual, 1981, p. 111]: ...we should also mention Giovanni Casoretti, born in 1797 in the province of Como. His obituary, in Il Giardiniere, Milano 1853, said "He obtained, through pollination and sowing, 130 very fine varieties of Bengal roses."
