David Austin: Fond farewell to a master of his craft
David Austin, the rose-growing pioneer and local businessman, died this week at the age of 92, leading to an outpouring of tributes.
David Austin was known the world over for breeding unique and beautiful roses in a career that spanned more than 75 years.
He created more than 200 English Roses during his lifetime, pioneering new hybrid breeds and transforming the entire industry.
The 92-year-old died peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Albrighton on Tuesday.
Mr Austin started breeding roses in the 1950s and remained passionate about the craft throughout his life.
From the Queen to Dame Judi Dench, celebrities from around the world sung the praises of his blooms, and each year his latest creations bore the names of some of those celebrities.
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It was in his school library that the seed of Mr Austin’s lifelong passion was planted – he found a gardening magazine which ignited his interest – and in his 20s he ordered his first plants.
Beguiled by their beauty, his first love lay with Old Roses – but with the more fashionable Hybrid Tea variety taking the spotlight, he decided to order different plants in order to compare the two.
Although not taken aback by the more popular Hybrid Teas, his recognition for their wider colour range and ability to repeat flower provided a lightbulb moment that began a rosarian revolution.
Breeding a rose that combined the beauty and fragrance of his much-loved Old Roses with the benefits of modern variations saw his first range of repeat-flowering English Roses, the name he coined for his ground-breaking variety, take to the market in 1969.
After years of work and countless hours of dedication, 1984 saw the first of many golds won at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, a show which saw the David Austin garden become one of the highlights for visitors, something which continues to this day.
That was just a year after his show debut, where Mr Austin first showcased the Graham Thomas, named after his good friend and mentor, reverend horticulturist Graham Thomas. Mr Austin said that flower was responsible for a large proportion of the success that followed.
His rose breeding programme is one of the largest in the world today, and his endeavours have resulted in a number of awards, including an OBE in 2007 for his services to horticulture and the Victoria Medal of Honour from the Royal Horticultural Society.
Welcoming his eldest son, David Austin Junior, into the business in 1990, David Austin Roses has since blossomed and its name is now known around the world. The business now employs more than 200 people, and brings in £22 million a year.
His son led the tributes, saying his father’s love for rose breeding was “truly inspiring”.
“The passion he instilled will continue and we will hold true to my father’s vision when he founded the company almost 50 years ago,” he said.
RHS director of horticulture, Tim Upson, said: “An inspirational man and great character, he will be sorely missed. His legacy will be the many fantastic and beautiful roses he’s introduced and bred over the years, including naming roses for each RHS Garden.”
With tributes coming in from near and far, he was described as “a gracious, warm and charming man” and a “walking encyclopaedia on all things gardens” by Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard.
His influence has travelled as far as Australia, where The National Rose Society of Australia posted on Facebook: “His roses delight many throughout the world, particularly because he has captured the fragrance of the old world roses and blended it with the repeat flowering of the modern rose. There is a rare public garden throughout the world that does not have a David Austin rose. His most famous rose, Graham Thomas, was admitted to the World Rose Hall of Fame in 2009.
“May he rest in peace, his family be comforted and he will remain ever in our minds and hearts by the legacy he has left to the world in his beautiful David Austin Roses that will continue to be developed through his progeny.”
David Austin leaves behind a legacy that the company says it will “pursue with vigour”.
He leaves three children, David Austin Junior, James Austin and Claire Austin, and his beloved canine Bertie, a Staffordshire bull terrier.
The Austin family has asked for anybody who wishes to share their memories and condolences to send them to rememberingmra@davidaustinroses.com
