HelpMeFind Roses, Clematis and Peonies
Roses, Clematis and Peonies
and everything gardening related.
DescriptionPhotosLineageAwardsReferencesMember RatingsMember CommentsMember JournalsCuttingsGardensBuy From 
'Old Master' rose References
HelpMeFind's future is in your hands - Please do not take this unique resource for granted.

Your support of HelpMeFind is urgently needed. HelpMeFind, like all websites, needs funding to survive. We have set a premium-membership yearly subscription amount as low as possible to make user-community funding viable.

We are grateful to the many members who have signed up so far, but the number of premium-membership members remains too small for us to sustain the current support and development level. If you value HelpMeFind and want to see it continue we need your support too.

Yearly membership is only $2.00 per month and adds a host of additional features, and numerous planned enhancements, to take full advantage of the power and convenience of HelpMeFind. Click here to start your premium membership..

We of course also welcome donations of any amount. Click here to make a donation. Donations of $24 or more receive a thank-you gift of a 1-year premium membership.

As far as we have come, we feel HelpMeFind is still in its infancy. With your support we have so much more to accomplish.
Booklet  (2008)  
 
An Information List of all Varieties. p6
1974. Old Master - Macesp. Nicknamed Espana
Book  (1996)  Page(s) 111.  Includes photo(s).
 
Old Master (MACesp) Cluster-flowered floribunda bush... carmine shades and markings on a white background... large blooms for a floribunda... McGredy 1974
Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 418.  
 
Old Master Floribunda, carmine, white eye and reverse, 1974, (MACesp); ('Maxi' x 'Evelyn Fison') x ('Orange Sweetheart' x 'Frühlingsmorgen'); McGredy. Description.
Book  (Feb 1993)  Page(s) 240.  Includes photo(s).
 
Old Master (MACesp) Cluster-flowered floribunda. Parentage: ('Maxi' x 'Evelyn Fison') x ('ORange Sweetheart' x 'Frühlingsmorgen'). New Zealand 1974. Description and cultivation... Loose, fullish blooms in a striking combination of carmine with a silver eye and reverse...
Book  (1993)  Page(s) 306.  Includes photo(s).
Book  (1987)  
 
p47. Sean McCann. ....But if you have a slightly shaded spot, try 'Old Master' or .....

p58. Barbara Lewis. Wellington Rose Society. Ten Favourite Roses.
'Old Master' (McGredy 1975) - My bush of 'Old Master' has grown at the front of the house for about 10 years and seems to be always in bloom and is remarked on by most people who visit. It has flowered five times this season and still has new buds forming - if not for pruning it would just go on, I think. Seems to attract mites late in the season but this can be controlled. The blooms, of a dark claret with white reverse are complemented by dark, glossy foliage which starts off reddish/bronze in colour.
Book  (1986)  Page(s) 92.  
 
In 1969 I had so many seedlings with hand-painted blood in them somewhere..... Nicknames are so much easier to remember than code-numbers. So I had Espana and .... in my breeding house that year. Espana ended up as 'Old Master'.
Book  (1986)  Page(s) 77.  
 
Isobel Coulston. Ten Favourite Roses. Two more floribundas I must bracket are 'Matangi' (McGredy 1975) and 'Old Master' (McGredy 1975), for the sheer exuberance they radiate. If all my other roses grew and flowered like these two I would have a magnificent, trouble free garden..... These two grow in such a well shaped manner that one can forgive them their thorns.
Book  (1981)  Page(s) 50.  
 
The Final Analysis 1980-81
'Old Master' N.R.S. 8.2 (McGredy) ('Maxi' x 'Evelyn Fison') x ('Orange Sweetheart' x 'Fruhlingsmorgen') red/purple with white reverse. A real eye-catching rose in the garden. A very reliable bush which flowers well. No vices and good reports countrywide. A great garden variety for those who like something a little different.
Book  (1980)  
 
p116. Review of Newer Roses. Floribundas
'Old Master'. Wine/silver rev. 9 reports. 5 years. 130cm N.R.S. 8.0. Auckland: Lovely as it is, but would be better with fewer thorns. Nth Otago: Unusual colour. Healthy. Milton: Healthy. Lovely when fresh. Fades in heat. Thorny, quick to repeat. Like it.

p123. Canterbury Rose Society, 1979. Symposium on Floribunda Roses.
'Old Master'. Only one report of this "hand painted" variety, which said it to be a strong grower, healthy and with dark green foliage. The flowers have ten petals, come in medium sized trusses, and have a darker colour than the earlier series of "hand painted" varieties. It has a slight fragrance, and does form heps after the petals have fallen which they do easily. It can be used on the Show Bench.
© 2025 HelpMeFind.com