David CH Austin

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David Austin in front of the English Rose ' Graham Thomas ', 2016
David Austin Roses at Albrighton

David CH Austin , OBE (born February 16, 1926 in Albrighton near Shrewsbury , England , † December 18, 2018 in Shropshire ) was a British rose breeder . He started growing English roses in the 1960s and launched over 240 new rose varieties on the market. Austin was a recipient of the Order of the British Empire , the Veitch Memorial Medal, and the Victoria Medal of Honor .

Life

As early as the 1940s and 1950s he began to be interested in roses - encouraged by his teachers. He was inspired by a copy of a book on old roses by George Bunyard and by the lupine breeder and friend of his father, James Baker.

“[I] knew that the sophisticated breeding methods of the previous years had undoubtedly given us an amazing variety of roses. However, it was obvious that two completely separate traditions were presented in the ancient and modern roses. [...] That both had their advantages and that a connection between the two would be desirable. [...] The task was to select particularly beautiful and fragrant old roses and to cross them with hybrid tea and floribunda roses because of their reliable ability to be reassembled and the wide range of colors. "

After some undesirable developments and setbacks, he succeeded in 1961 with the Constance Spry rose variety, the first breeding that combined these characteristics. Since the Rose Market in the 1960s by tea hybrid breeding parent was dominated and he found no nursery that would take the rose in her program, he marketed his breeding from now on itself. 1967 followed Chianti 1968 Shropshire Lass and 1969. Wife of Bath and Canterbury . Also in 1969 Austin introduced the name English Rose and founded the rose cultivation David Austin Rose Nursery Limited .

In 1983 the English rose became known worldwide with the two new roses Graham Thomas and Mary Rose at the Chelsea Flower Show . In 1984 he won his first of 25 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show (as of June 2019). In 1984 he was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). After the success, he began to build and expand his rose growing business and the rose garden in Albrighton.

In 2007 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services to horticulture. His rose cultivars have received worldwide awards: In 2009 the World Federation of Rose Societies (WFRS) recognized the rose Graham Thomas as a world rose . Gertrude Jekyll has twice been named Britain's Most Popular Rose. 28 of his rose cultivars received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). David Austin was subsequently honored with the Victoria Medal of Honor from the RHS (2002), an honorary doctorate from the University of East London, and the Dean Hole Medal from the Royal National Rose Society . The garden he created with English roses in Albrighton received the Award of Garden Excellence from the WFRS in 2015.

David Austin's rose varieties have been marketed worldwide since the beginning of the 21st century. Today the rose grower has offices in the United States and Japan .

In the late 1990s, David Austin began growing English roses, which are suitable as cut roses . In 2004 these were introduced to the market. The most successful varieties in this group include: Juliet (1999), Patience (2009), Keira (2010), Charity (2011), Kate (2011), Tess (2013), Edith (2013) and Beatrice (2015).

In addition to growing roses, David Austin has published numerous handbooks and illustrated books on English roses since 1988 and the volume of poetry The Breathing Earth in 2014 .

He leaves behind his three children David JC, James and Claire from their marriage to his late wife Pat, as well as his sister Baraba and eight grandchildren.

After his death in December 2018, his grandson Richard continues the horticultural and rose growing business.

Austin breed images

Commons : Austin Roses  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Publications

Web links

Commons : Roses by David Austin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Austin, English Roses. Cologne 1994 p. 23.
  2. ↑ David Austin Rose Nursery Limited (ed.): Rose Handbook 2018/2019 . Albrighton 2018, p. 209 .
  3. ↑ a b c David CH Austin OBE. Retrieved June 20, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Austin, David CH
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Austin, David Charles Henshaw
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British rose grower
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Albrighton , England
DATE OF DEATH December 18, 2018
Place of death Shropshire