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'U11' Description
'Felix Leclerc' rose photo
Photo courtesy of David Elliott
Availability:
Commercially available
Synonyms:
HMF Ratings:
29 favorite votes.  
Average rating: EXCELLENT.  
ARS:
Shrub.
Origin:
Bred by Dr. Felicitas Svejda (Canada, 1977).
Introduced in Canada by Agriculture Canada, Saint Jean sur Richelieu, Quebec. in 2007 as 'Félix Leclerc'.
Class:
Climber, Shrub.   (Series: Canadian Artists Series)  
Bloom:
Deep pink to red.  Mild, musk fragrance.  15 to 25 petals.  Average diameter 4".  Large, double (17-25 petals), cluster-flowered bloom form.  Blooms in flushes throughout the season.  Ovoid buds.  
Habit:
Tall, arching, bushy, climbing, thornless (or almost), well-branched.  Medium, semi-glossy, dark green, holly-like foliage.  5 to 7 leaflets.  

Height: 3' to 10' (90 to 305cm).  Width: 3' to 6' (90 to 185cm).
Growing:
USDA zone 3b through 7b.  Can be used for pillar or shrub.  Hardy.  benefits from winter protection in colder climates.  can be grown as a shrub.  can be trained as a climber.  drought resistant.  heat tolerant.  Disease susceptibility: very disease resistant, very blackspot resistant..  Needs little care; relatively disease-free and quite hardy.  Prune dead wood.  Remove unproductive wood every third year or so.  
Patents:
Canada - Patent No: 2466  on  28 Jul 2006
Application No: 05-4612  on  25 Feb 2005
Breeder: Claude Richer, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
'Félix Leclerc' is a climbing rose variety with a bushy growth habit....'Félix Leclerc' originated from a controlled cross between the two rose lines 'L25' and 'D25' which took place at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, Canada. The cross was conducted by the breeder, Mrs. Félicitas Svejda, in 1977. It was evaluated for a few years but due to lack of interest the variety was set aside. After the retirement of Mrs. Svejda, all vegetative material was transfered to another breeder at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research station in l'Acadie, Québec, Canada. Further selection and evaluation were conducted by Mrs. Claude Richer beginning in 1995
 
United States - Patent No: PP 20,315  on  15 Sep 2009   VIEW USPTO PATENT
Application No: 11/880,182  on  19 Jul 2007
Inventors: Richer; Claude (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, CA)
Assignee: Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (Saint-Jean sur-Richelieu, Quebec, CA)
The new rose `Felix Leclerc` resulted from a hybridization programme and is a selection from a cross by manual pollination between lines `L25` (unpatented) and `D25` (unpatented). `D25` is the pollen parent which came from the `D07` (unpatented) breeding line and was obtained from a second open-pollinated seedling generation, originating from a cross between `Suzanne` and `Red Dawn` (unpatented). `L25` is the female parent, originating from a cross between Rosa kordesii and `D07` and Rosa kordesii Wulff. ...The cultivar was created in Ottawa in 1977
Ploidy:
Tetraploid
Notes:
Dr. Felicitas Svejda states the parentage to be: [(R. kordesii x ('Red Dawn' x 'Suxanne') open pollination] x [(('Red Dawn' x 'Suzanne') open pollination) open pollination]

Although the US patent lists Claude Richer as the inventor of Félix Leclerc, and the Canadian breeder's rights notice (Certificate #2466) at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/pbrpov/cropreport/ros/app00005422e.shtml also lists Claude Richer as the breeder, the Origin & Breeding History in the Canadian document states:

"'Félix Leclerc' originated from a controlled cross between the two rose lines 'L25' and 'D25' which took place at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, Canada. The cross was conducted by the breeder, Mrs. Félicitas Svejda, in 1977. It was evaluated for a few years but due to lack of interest the variety was set aside. After the retirement of Mrs. Svejda, all vegetative material was transfered to another breeder at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research station in l'Acadie, Québec, Canada. Further selection and evaluation were conducted by Mrs. Claude Richer beginning in 1995 and in 1998, 'Félix Leclerc' was selected . . .."