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The cross-pollination is a painstaking process, carried out by patient hands according to traditional methods. “We don’t use any gene technology,” says David J.C. Austin. “It would only be a waste of time and money, because what we want is a collection of roses in a perpetual evolution.” The petals are stripped off the flower and only one is left for easy identification the following day. The stamens are very delicately taken out and put into little glass jars and heated at 20°C overnight. The pollen that is released is carefully brushed onto the stigma of another flower the following day. When the hips are ripe the seeds are taken out and kept in cold storage at about 1-2°C for three months. Then they are sown, and when they germinate they are transferred into the greenhouse. Michael Marriott explains that “the breeding process is very carefully planned, but it still takes a very long time to produce good roses. From an average of 250,000 seedlings, each one of which is genetically unique, we select about 10,000 that have attractive flowers and then these go out into the field, where disease will come in or they will not stand up to the weather, which will reduce the number to a few hundred that are worthwhile.” The selection is very tough and, on average, only four or five new varieties are introduced each year. “The deciding factor is: is it a beautiful rose? Has it got that magical character of charm and fragrance as well as of disease resistance and strength?” says Michael Marriott. Another specific variety of English Roses developed by David C. H. Austin are cut flower roses which are bred
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by the same process. “We cross the garden English Roses with traditional cut roses to get the beauty and charm of the former and the straight stems and long-lasting vase life of the latter. But what we are always looking for is fragrance, whereas many traditional cut roses have none at all.” David J. C. Austin wants people to enjoy their gardens. For this reason they offer advice and expertise to customers. One area of growing roses many weekend gardeners get nervous about is pruning but, he explains, it really is very easy and by following simple advice, this fear can be quickly dispelled. Their roses grow in almost any climate, except in the extremes of temperatures, provided they have enough water. Disease resistance is also an important issue and a number of their roses do not have to be sprayed at all. The planting of mixed borders is also strongly encouraged. Michael Marriott has a long experience in designing private and public gardens in the UK and overseas: “Mixing roses with perennials looks very beautiful for the variety of shapes and colours and the possibility of introducing blue in the colour scheme, which is very effective and, of course, does not exist in roses. It also helps to keep the roses healthier, and attracts birds and insects, helping to control the pests on the roses. Also, if it’s not a monoculture, diseases don’t spread so easily.” Love and jealousy, pureness and sensuousness, fragility and strength, peace and war. The rose is so versatile in its symbolism that it can represent the entire spectrum of human emotions. And David Austin has a rose for every shade.
Above, David C.H. Austin created more than 200 English Roses. Today, the company is run by his son David J.C. Austin. Top, from left, the English Rose Graham Thomas was named after the number one expert in Britain on old-fashioned roses; Darcey Bussell, a new red rose that is both hardy and luxuriant.
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