Old California Botanicals

Did you know many of Redlands’ most beautiful historic homes were built during the city’s booming orange industry? Come explore the neighborhoods that grew alongside the citrus empire and discover a piece of Southern California history.

In the 1800s, scurvy was still a fact of life in America.
Fresh citrus was rare, expensive, and seasonal. During the Civil War alone, more than 29,000 Union soldiers were diagnosed with scurvy, while infantile scurvy—known as Barlow’s Disease—was tragically common among children.
Then California citrus changed everything.
Railroads connected the Golden State to the East Coast. The McKinley Tariffs of the 1890s secured a domestic citrus industry. Suddenly, oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits became accessible to ordinary Americans for the first time in history.
By the 20th century, citrus juice was prescribed in hospitals, served in schools, and shipped to Allied troops overseas during WWII.
A disease that had haunted humanity for centuries quietly disappeared within a few generations.
Not with a miracle drug.
With fruit.

When people think “California roses,” they picture the bloom — not the backstory.
But California didn’t just grow roses… we helped shape them.

Before the hybrids, we had native wild rose (Rosa californica), and the earliest gardens of Alta California were already perfumed with mission-era Damask roses.

Then Southern California went to work.

5 heirloom roses with real SoCal origins (and where they were born):

1. Climbing ‘Cécile Brünner’ — Riverside (1894)

2. Climbing ‘Papa Gontier’ — Riverside (1898)

3. ‘Charlotte Armstrong’ — Ontario (1940)

4. ‘Chrysler Imperial’ — Descanso / La Cañada Flintridge (1952)

5. ‘Queen Elizabeth’ — California (1954)

And yes—California has bred hundreds of named roses. These are the varieties that look period-right on historic homes, love our sun, and give you that instant vintage California romance.

Redlands / Citrus Belt people: if you’ve got a porch, pergola, or an old fence line begging for a climber… this is your sign.

Comment your city + whether your house is Craftsman / Spanish / Victorian / Mid-Century, and I’ll tell you which rose fits the facade.