Osaage Orange,Moc Orange, and several other names it goes by( kinda like satan who has may names) is a great wood for handles....I have access to a ton of the stuff that was cut somewhere around 50+ years ago...no it doesn't rot, bugs don't even try to eat it, matter of fact i think after a nuclear blast it will stil be around with the roaches!!!! The stuff I have is so freakin hard I ruined a new band saw blade cutting a total of 6 inches! My next attempt to cut it will be with a chain saw, to get it in managable chunks.
Color....hummmmm, if your prefer a certain color, don't use it, it changes with time, sun exposure, and probably several other factors. I have some that started out a redish brown set it up, inside, (not to dry, just put it in my stock bin), after a month or 3 when I went back looking through my stock I didn't know what it was! It was Brown, with hints of light red, and darker brown streaks. Now I'm not saying the color changes are bad, they are just changes, and most of what I've seen looks good, most of it won't have much figure, but the stuff that does have figure looks REALLY good.
Just know that it is HARD, destroys ALL blades, unless it's green, then it takes a long time to cure. Have fun if you can! Rex