David Charles Henshaw Austin (16 February 1926 at Albrighton – 18 December 2018 in the same village) was a British rose breeder and writer who lived in Shropshire, England. His emphasis was on breeding roses with the character and fragrance of old garden roses (such as gallicas, damasks and alba roses) but with the repeat-flowering ability and wide colour range of modern roses such as hybrid teas and floribundas.

Career

Austin's first commercially available rose, Rosa 'Constance Spry', was introduced in 1961. In 1967 and 1968 he introduced 'Chianti' and 'Shropshire Lass' respectively. Although these first roses bloomed only once in spring or early summer, they led, in 1969, to a series of remontant (repeat-flowering) varieties, including 'Wife of Bath' and 'Canterbury' (both in honour of the English author Geoffrey Chaucer). Austin's roses soon became the most successful group of new roses in the twentieth century. Though Austin's roses are not officially recognised as a separate class of roses by, for instance, the Royal National Rose Society or the American Rose Society, they are nonetheless commonly referred to by rosarians, at nurseries, and in horticultural literature as 'English Roses' (the term he uses) or 'Austin Roses'. Since its founding in 1969, he and his firm David Austin Roses in Albrighton, near Wolverhampton, introduced over 190 rose cultivars during his lifetime. Cultivars have been named in honour of his family, well-known rosarians, geographical landmarks in Britain, historical events, and British writers, particularly Shakespeare and Chaucer, and their works or characters. For instance, roses have honoured such diverse entities as the rosarian and artist Graham Thomas and King Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose. David Austin Roses is still a family business, run by his son David and his grandson Richard. For decades Austin worked closely with senior rosarian Michael Marriott. In the twenty-first century, Austin separated his roses into four groups as a guide to further developments. The four groups are: In 2003, David Austin was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour by the Royal Horticultural Society for his services to horticulture and the Dean Hole Medal from the Royal National Rose Society. He received an Honorary MSc from the University of East London for his work on rose breeding. He received the lifetime achievement award from the Garden Centre Association in 2004 and was awarded an OBE in 2007. In 2010, he was named a "Great Rosarian of the World". He died in December 2018 aged 92, and was buried at the parish church of St Mary Magdalene, Albrighton, on 4 January 2019.

Chelsea Flower Show

In 2019, David Austin Roses won its 25th Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, the first since the death of David Austin in 2018 and the 37th time David Austin Roses had exhibited. The Secret Garden-themed gold medal display housed two new roses - Rosa Eustacia Vye and Rosa Gabriel Oak - named after characters in the work of Thomas Hardy.

Books

"English Rose"

"English Rose" is the designation for roses bred by David Austin.

List of Austin cultivars

Selection of images

Notes and references