David Austin obituary, update on RHS building project
Tributes pour in as David Austin dies after 75 years of breeding roses
DAVID Charles Henshaw Austin, who died at the age of 92, brought pleasure to millions thanks to a youthful obsession with roses. The founder of David Austin Roses, he bred more than 200 varieties of English Rose over 75 years.
Mr Austin, or ‘Mr A’ as he was known to his family, was born into a Shropshire farming family and his interest in gardening was sparked by a copy of Gardening Illustrated magazine in the school library. He diversified into roses after receiving Edward A Bunyard’s book Old Garden Roses, as a 21st birthday gift from his sister Barbara.
His vision was to create a rose that combined the qualities of Old Roses, which have rosette-shaped flowers and a glorious scent, with Hybrid Tea roses that are strong repeat-flowerers.
In the 1950s, Mr Austin started breeding roses and it wasn’t a straightforward task – he lost his first set of seedlings to fungal infection. Undaunted, he carried on and produced his first commercially successful plant, Rosa ‘Constance Spry,’ in 1961.
Named after the pioneering florist and author, the rose is a strongly scented climber with masses of pink flowers.
English glory
By the end of the 1960s he had refined the breeding process and launched his first range of ‘English roses’, arguing that as the French had Gallicia roses and Scotland the Scots roses, there was no reason why England couldn’t have its own.
He named several plants after English characters and settings, including the botanist ‘Gertrude Jekyll’, ‘Falstaff, ‘Queen Mother’ and ‘Scepter’d Isle’.
After this success, Mr Austin went on to create more than 200 new varieties of rose, receiving many RHS gold medals and, in 2007, an OBE for services to horticulture. He was also awarded the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour for services to horticulture.
After receiving his OBE, Mr Austin Snr said: “My greatest satisfaction is to see the pleasure my roses give to gardeners and rose lovers around the world.”
Mr Austin was married to sculptor and painter Patricia (née Braithwaite) who died in 2007 and is immortalised by the apricot-hued ‘Pat Austin’. They had three children, David Jnr, James and Claire.
“He persevered despite losing his first batch of seedlings to fungal disease”
His elder son, David Austin Jnr, managing director of the family firm, said: “My father – or ‘Mr A’ as he was affectionately known – was a remarkable man. His love for the art of rose breeding was truly inspiring and he loved nothing more than seeing the pleasure his roses gave to others.”
AG columnist Val Bourne said: “I can’t thank David Austin enough, for two of my very favourite roses are ‘Wildeve’ and ‘The Generous Gardener’.
“They’re fragrant pink roses with an old-fashioned look and they have elegance and grace – rather like Mr Austin Snr himself. The last time I saw him was at The Chelsea Flower Show and we chatted for five full minutes. It was the first time I had a conversation with him – what an honour!”
AG’s Toby Buckland said: “I started my horticultural career in a rose nursery and had the pleasure of meeting David on many occasions. I was always very impressed by his passion and business acumen, but most of all his roses.
“Before David Austin, the divisions between hybrid teas, shrubs and ramblers were fixed, but he reinvented the rose, pioneering the ‘modern shrub’ and realising their adaptability as trained roses or as flowery-domes.
“He’ll be missed, but we can all take heart that his legacy will flower on.”