It has been for me, which is why Leonie doesn't live at my house any more. The petals are very soft. The aridity and low soil moisture in my garden led to smaller, less frequent flowers which didn't last a day in the intensity of the sun and heat here. She's a beautiful rose with a very nice scent. She just needs more humidity, more water, less sun and heat intensity than I can provide for her. Kim

I have had the same experience as Kim in my arid mountain climate with high temps. Pretty rose, but not worth the space for me.

Smiles,
Lyn

Leonie was in a past garden but this rose never greatly appealed to me, probably because of the reasons stated above. I imagine it could be a lovely rose in the right conditions, which I definitely didn't have.

Ingrid

I loved the blooms, but there were never many of them. If I am honest, I must say that Lambert's 'Tip-Top' has the same problem.

Jeri

Morcom park in Oakland, ca has a Leonie Lamesch, which I believe is budded onto Manetti, the size and vigor of the plant are exceptional, and at one time it was nearly 6 feet tall by 7 feet wide, no one had pruned it for many years.
It was very floriferous as well, and the blooms only frizzled when temps were in the high 80's F, and so most of the year the blooms were fine.
I think it is an exceptional member of its class, and wish it were still available budded onto rootstock, the foliage and bloom colors make it seem like some sort of tropical fruit punch plant.

Luxrosa

Lux, here in humid hot middle Tennessee she is growing well. Got her as a band in spring. She is in a somewhat partial shade situation...about 2 1/2 feet tall now. Healthy, not too floriferous (but young)
"Tropical fruit punch plant" is spot on! That would be her "found" name.
I like her thus far.
Susan

Bellegallica - you are in zone 9, but what kind of zone 9? Hot dessert? Humid South? I ask because several of the first responders to your question say that their conditions are too dry and too hot and the sun is too strong for this rose.

I have it in zone 9, in the North SF Bay area, about 4 blocks from SF Bay. We are not humid, but probably have more humidity than they do. Also milder temperatures. Anyway, I love this rose. Mine is a baby, about 1 1/2 year old, and growing in a very large pot in full sun. The blooms do not fry for me, and it makes lots of flowers.

I couldn't find a very good pic of it - I will have to take some next Spring. This one was taken about 2 weeks ago, and as you can see it has decided that it likes my tomato plant, and is trying to merge with it.

Jackie

I dearly loved this rose! I love how changable the colors are, the long droopy slightly olive green foliage, frequent bloom, and good health. I'm in hot San Antonio and yes the petals did burn in the heat even with afternoon shade, but it was wonderful spring and fall. Color wise it's a hard rose to place with other roses and looked best in my garden when planted with purple/blue salvias.

Mine is in a huge pot and very healthy. It blooms a lot but did shut down in August. The blooms are not large, but they are variable in color, different colors all over the bush. I don't notice them burning more than any other rose in our intense sun. I really like her.

It's a real favorite of mine. In Florida's humid heat, I'd not say that it fries any worse than do most other roses. And it blooms quite a lot for us. Definitely a keeper here. We do grow it on 'Fortuniana' roots.
Malcolm

Thanks for all the responses. I'm in a humid zone 9, so dry air wouldn't be the issue but steamy heat and bright sun.

I should have asked if Leonie Lamesch is one of those roses that, like Sophie's Perpetual and some chinas, darkens in the heat and sun? I have Sophie's P in afternoon sun, and while the foliage is fine in that situation, the flowers turn crispy in one day.

I thought that LL and SP might be roses that would need to be in morning sun/afternoon shade in my climate. But I noticed Roselee said her LL burns up even in afternoon shade. But that's in SW Texas, so maybe the drier air is partly to blame?

In the end I know I'm going to have to just see for myself, so I am definitely not crossing Leonie off the list yet. But I may wait a little longer until I have a more favorable location for it.

Thanks again for all the input, though. It was helpful.

Just wondered if there was any news on this rose. Is it Leonie Lamesch or a lookalike do you think ?? Very nice rose whatever.

I'd think it's the "real Leonie". The rose has been continuously in commerce pretty much for the past century-plus and nothing else was introduced resembling its very characteristic look. This rose was introduced in 1899 and was a real color and plant "break". For something of these colors to be sufficiently cold hardy in Germany was a real success. It is also not surprising the petal substance isn't sufficient to handle extreme sun, extreme heat combined with aridity. It wasn't selected to deal with any of that. In those conditions, when it is pretty, it is amazingly so. Unfortunately, it just wasn't sufficiently pretty a sufficient period of time to justify the room and water here. I love the rose. I love the achievement and I love that he bred, named and introduced two roses, Leonie and Eugenie, then married Leonie the next year. I'd love to find out if Eugenie and Leonie were simply sisters or twin sisters. Obviously Peter Lambert felt this rose a pinnacle of his breeding or he would not have named it for the woman he loved. You don't name a bad rose for your beloved unless you want to sleep in the den and eat still frozen Salisbury Steak for dinner! I admit, a good part of my affection for the rose is due to the romance of its story. Kim

Here is the picture of the entire bush (grows in a large pot) I took just this morning.

Jackie

Yup, as Jiminshermanoaks used to call it, "seven shades of copper". Beautiful, Jackie! Kim

I love it!

My baby cuttings are in pots growing happily so far, I am looking forward to seeing them bloom