Samuel Darragh McGredy IV (1932 Portadown - August 25, 2019 Auckland)
This record lists all roses released by Sam McGredy IV, whether at Samuel McGredy and Son, Nurserymen in Portadown, Northern Ireland or McGredy Roses, International in Auckland, New Zealand
When Sam McGredy first budded a rose, it was given a final field year and number. e.g. 53/14.
These final field year numbers are the year HelpMeFind has used as "bred".
The last roses Sam actually bred were in 1991.
[From The Quest for the Rose, by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, p. 155:] "Sam McGredy IV took over the family business in 1952. [After a period of 18 years after his father died in 1934] Much of the breeding stock had been lost during the war. [p. 192, there's a photo of Sam McGredy in his greenhouse] [p. 193:] Sam IV introduced his first roses in 1958... In 1972, he moved his whole operation to New Zealand, to a climate that more or less eliminated the need for greenhouses. There he has specialized in producing a new race of Hand-Painted Roses and Striped Roses."
[From A Family of Roses, by Sam McGredy and Sean Jennett, p. 34:] "The things we do not work for, I and other hybridists, are pink hybrid teas, because they appear in breeding lines anyway, and we do not work for white, because there is a limited demand for white. I do not work for single or semi-double floribundas either, because they would have to be exceptionally good to be at all popular. The market shows clearly enough that what people want are floribundas with blooms of hybrid-tea shape. I work for climbers of many kinds, and at present I am working on miniatures. My idea for roses in my lifetime is that the gardener may order any colour he wants in any form -- as a bush rose, as a climber, or as a miniature. I would do away with the terms 'hybrid tea' and 'floribunda'. Instead I would classify roses according to use -- for house decoration, for garden display, for exhibition, for climbing or rambling, for ground cover, for greenhouses..."
2020 New Zealand Rose Review
p59. Doug Grant. Sam McGredy and His Roses.
2020 New Zealand Rose Annual
p62. Remembering Sam McGredy.
Tributes from Kerry Johnstone, Maria Winder, Andrea Hawcridge, Georgina Campbell, Hayden Foulds, Doug Grant,
Dr. Keith Hammett, Margaret Hayward, Ned Nicely, Bob Mathews, Rob Somerfield, Bob Wynyard, Tom Carruth, Dr. Tommy Cairns, Colin Dickson, Gareth Fryer, David Kenny, Inger Schierning, and Ludwig Taschner.
