In the early 1950’s David Austin began experimenting with breeding roses in an attempt to grow a more beautiful rose. Little did he know this was to become his life’s work, and that he would become a most renowned rose breeder.
Interestingly, When David introduced his first rose, Constance Spry, to the industry professionals they pretty much laughed at him saying no one would buy such an old fashion English rose. That was in 1961. Sixty plus years later David Austin and his family have introduced well over 200 beautiful rose varieties to the world. David Austin passed in 2018, but his family and business continue to breed spectacular roses.
Introducing 200 plus roses that meet David Austin’s exacting standards takes a lot of effort, with the failures far outweighing successes. The rose company typically starts out with 2500 rose seedlings each year, vigorously testing them for eight years. The end result is usually 4-8 roses that perform well enough to be considered for a new rose introduction. Not only must a new David Austin rose be beautiful and unique, it must have a strong attractive fragrance, and perform well under a wide variety of cultural conditions. This means we can have confidence a David Austin rose will perform well in our garden. Typically David Austin roses are heavily-petaled and vigorous growing. Finally most David Austin roses make for long-lasting cut flowers allowing us to enjoy their beauty and fragrance indoors.
Many varieties of David Austin roses are somewhat compact making them quite suitable for large planters. At the other end larger growing varieties ramble, making perfect short climbers for arbors and walls or trailing along a fence. If you enjoy roses, David Austin roses are a must to add to your collection.
