Roots and Routes

Rosa ‘Oranges ‘n’ Lemons’

• Introduced by McGredy Roses International in 1992
• Introduced in the United States by Weeks Roses in 1995
• Bred in the United Kingdom by Sam McGredy IV in 1985
• Class: Shrub
• Multi-colored blooms splashed and striped with bright fiery orange and pure golden yellow
• Mild fruity fragrance
• Parentage: New Year X (Freude x seedling)

The Oranges ’n’ Lemons rose produces wonderfully flamboyant blooms streaked and splashed with brilliant orange and lemon-yellow, with no two flowers, or even two petals, quite alike. A glossy dark-green foliage emerges with an unusual mahogany-red tint that adds yet another layer of color to this striking rose.

Oranges ’n’ Lemons was bred in New Zealand by renowned rose hybridizer Sam McGredy IV. The rose belongs to the group of unusually patterned varieties McGredy called his “hand-painted roses,” reflecting his particular interest in breeding novelty, vivid color, and distinctive striped flowers.

The name Oranges ’n’ Lemons is wonderfully literal: its vivid orange markings appear almost painted across a lemon-yellow background. The phrase also inevitably recalls “Oranges and Lemons,” the centuries-old English nursery rhyme associated with the bells of London churches, whose earliest known printed version dates to the 18th century.