Handel®

This rose's location in the garden is SW7.
  • Classification:   Climber (large-flowered)
  • Flower Color:  red blend
  • Flower Size:  3.5 inches
  • Flower Form:  cupped, ruffled
  • Petal Count:  22-30
  • Fragrance:  none to mild honey
  • Repeat Bloomer:  yes
  • Foliage:  glossy, dark green
  • Plant Height:  5-11 feet
  • Plant Width:  7-8 feet
  • Growth Habit:  climbing, vigorous
  • Disease Resistant:  no
  • Hybridizer:  Sam McGredy (Ireland)
  • Registered:  1965
  • Parentage:  ‘Columbine’ x ‘Gruss an Heidelberg’
  • ARS* Rating:  8.0 (a solid to very good rose)
    *American Rose Society Rating

Awards:
  • 1965 Ground Certificate, Royal National Rose Society Show
  • 1971 Second Class Certificate, The Hague Rose Trials
  • 1975 Gold Medal, Portland Rose Trials
  • 1993 Award of Garden Merit, Royal Horticultural Society Show
  • Frequent winner in Rose Show Climber Classes
 
Notes:
  • “When Samuel McGredy IV (Sam) (1931–2019) took over the family business in 1952, he knew very little about rose breeding. He sought out the renowned rose hybridizers at the time: Reimer Kordes from Germany, Eugene Boerner from the United States and Niels Poulsen from Denmark, in order to educate himself on modern rose hybridization. Soon after, he created a new rose breeding program at the nursery. McGredy's first commercial success was his Gold Medal winner, floribunda rose, 'Orangeade' in 1959. During the 1960s, McGredy was best known for his hybrid tea and floribunda roses.

  • In 1972, alarmed over the increasing political violence in Northern Ireland, McGredy and his family moved to Auckland, New Zealand. He transplanted his nursery stock and renamed the company, McGredy Roses International. New Zealand's climate, ideal for plant cultivation, allowed McGredy to breed roses outdoors without greenhouses. He soon introduced a new series of what he called 'hand painted' roses, brightly coloured striped roses and roses splashed with two or more colours. Some of his most popular rose cultivars include Rosa 'Dublin Bay, Rosa ‘Sexy Rexy’, Rosa ‘Olympiad’ and Rosa ‘Handel’. When McGredy retired in 2007, he closed the nursery. He died in 2019.” --- (Wikipedia,“Rosa Handel”) retrieved May 2020 from “Roses from the McGredy Family,” Nanette Londeree, Master Rosarian, Northern California District of the American Rose Society.