The house of McGredy had been breeding roses in Ireland for more than half a century when Sam McGredy introduced Chanelle, Orangeade, and Picadilly in1959. These roses were hits. Picadilly went on to parent a vast number of roses. By the time Handel was introduced in 1965, its shining white petals kissed with both primrose yellow and candy pink, it was clear that Sam McGredy was a rose breeding force to be reconned with. At some point he chose to move his whole operation to New Zealand; the move must have gone fairly smoothly since there are no apparent large temporal gaps in the flow of good new cultivars.
McGredy managed to make significant progress on almost all fronts. He introduced a number of superlative climbers including the highly rated pure red Dublin Bay. He introduced a line of 'hand painted' striped roses of which Oranges and Lemons may be the most novel. The most successful of this line must be Eye Paint which covers itself in brilliant red blossoms with a white eye.
He introduced a number of hybrid tea roses remarkable for their durability: Electron, Olympiad, and New Zealand are some of the hybrid teas of easiest culture to be found. They have good form, good color, good size, good vigor, good disease resistance, and good fragrance. There's not much more to ask for. Of New Zealand I have sometimes heard rosarians claim they do not grow it because it is too easy! Perhaps they should spend time promoting and cultivating Old Port. It is an English style rose whose culture I understand presents a number of challenges. Its particular shade of purple and its particular shape make it quite unique.
Anyone who has seen it grown perfectly and at the height of bloom would surely agree that Sam McGredy's most superlative effort was Sexy Rexy. Topping out at four feet in height and about three feet across it manages to completely cover its surface with two inch wide old style flowers. The sheer 'wow' effect is impossible to describe.
McGredy's contributions to rose breeding are among the most towering of any twentieth century individual. No breeder produced truly great roses for more years. None produced so many roses in so many different areas. None has produced so many unusually colored roses. And I can think of no breeder that has offered a 'grand slam' hybrid tea - one that aces all the categories by which we might judge hybrid tea roses. How incredibly fortunate the rose world is that today we can regularly enjoy our gardens so much more thanks to the productive work of Sam McGredy.
| Name | Color | Date | Class | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lady Alice Stanley | Coral | 1909 | Large Flowered | |
| Mrs. Wakefield Christie-Miller | Candy Pink | 1909 | Large Flowered | |
| Chanelle | White/Yellow Blend | 1959 | Cluster Flowered | |
| Orangeade | Vermilion | 1959 | Cluster Flowered | 8.0 |
| Picadilly | Red/Yellow Bicolor | 1959 | Large Flowered | |
| Casino | Yellow | 1963 | Large Flower Climber | 7.9 |
| Casanova | Pale Apricot | 1964 | Large Flowered | |
| Elizabeth of Glamis | Salmon | 1964 | Cluster Flowered | 7.4 |
| Tiki | Coral | 1964 | Large Flowered | |
| Violet Carson | Shell Pink | 1964 | Cluster Flowered | |
| Arthur Bell | Chrome Yellow | 1965 | Cluster Flowered | 7.5 |
| Handel | White/Pink Blend | 1965 | Cluster Flower Climber | 8.0 |
| City of Leeds | Coral | 1966 | Cluster Flowered | 7.9 |
| Galway Bay | Rose | 1966 | Large Flower Climber | 8.1 |
| Bantry Bay | Pink | 1967 | Cluster Flower Climber | 7.9 |
| City of Belfast | Scarlet | 1968 | Cluster Flowered | 8.0 |
| Ginger Rogers | Salmon | 1969 | Large Flowered | |
| Electron | Cerise | 1970 | Large Flowered | 7.7 |
| Bonfire Night | Coral/Gold Blend | 1971 | Cluster Flowered | |
| Picasso | Red/White Blend | 1971 | Cluster Flowered | 7.7 |
| Grand Hotel | Scarlet | 1972 | Large Flower Climber | |
| Fragrant Hour | Pink/Orange Blend | 1973 | Large Flowered | 7.3 |
| Matangi | Red/White Blend | 1974 | Cluster Flowered | 8.0 |
| Old Master | Red/White Blend | 1974 | Cluster Flowered | 7.9 |
| Brown Velvet | Tawney Blend | 1975 | Cluster Flowered | 7.0 |
| Coventry Cathedral | Red/Yellow Blend | 1975 | Cluster Flowered | 7.7 |
| Dublin Bay | Red | 1975 | Large Flower Climber | 8.6 |
| Eyepaint | Red/White Blend | 1975 | Cluster Flowered | 8.4 |
| Young Quinn | Yellow | 1975 | Large Flowered | |
| Trumpeter | Scarlet | 1977 | Cluster Flowered | 8.0 |
| Priscilla Burton | Crimson | 1978 | Cluster Flowered | 8.3 |
| Regensburg | Rose | 1979 | Cluster Flowered | 8.0 |
| Dorola | Chrome Yellow | 1982 | Miniature | 7.7 |
| Little Artist | Red/Yellow Blend | 1982 | Miniature | 8.5 |
| Freegold | Apricot | 1983 | Miniature | 7.2 |
| Angelita | White | 1984 | Miniature | 8.4 |
| Olympiad | Red | 1984 | Large Flowered | 8.7 |
| Sexy Rexy | Pale Pink | 1984 | Cluster Flowered | 8.9 |
| Hurdy Gurdy | Red/White Blend | 1986 | Miniature | 8.1 |
| Stretch Johnson | Red/Yellow Blend | 1988 | Cluster Flower Climber | 7.8 |
| Whiteout | White | 1988 | Miniature | 9.0 |
| Gwen Swane | Coral | 1989 | Modern Shrub | |
| Old Port | Mauve | 1990 | English Rose | 7.8 |
| New Zealand | Shell Pink | 1991 | Large Flowered | 7.6 |
| Singin’ in the Rain | Copper | 1991 | Cluster Flowered | 7.7 |
| Mount Hood | White | 1992 | Cluster Flowered | 7.2 |
| Oranges ‘n’ Lemons | Orange & Yellow | 1992 | Cluster Flower Climber | 7.6 |
| Maggie Barry | Coral | 1993 | Large Flowered | 7.4 |
| Reba McEntire | Vermilion | 1998 | Large Flowered | 7.7 |
| Octoberfest | Copper | 2001 | Cluster Flowered | 7.5 |
| Top Notch | Chrome Yellow | 2001 | Cluster FLowere3d |