Sunday, October 6, 2013

David Austin is golden at Chelsea and Hampton Court

The Albrighton Rambler, a new Austin intro at Chelsea


I’ve been away the past couple of weeks on a mini vacation judging roses shows, visiting friends and family as well as stopping by two of my favorite botanical gardens. So I am a little behind on The Dirt Diaries, but I promise to post pictures from Norfolk Botanical Gardens and Lewis Ginter very soon.

In the meantime, I’ve been wanting to share some of the amazing photos of David Austin English roses from two of the summer’s biggest flowers shows across the pond.

Like many companies in England and Europe, David Austin’s nursery has been affected by atrocious weather this year, but it didn’t stop them from scooping up gold medals at Chelsea and the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.






Their rose garden exhibit (above) staged in the Grand Pavilion snagged a 17th Gold for the firm at the 100th Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show. The garden included 500 roses including four new varieties The Lady Gardener, The Albrighton Rambler, Thomas a Becket and Carolyn Knight.

David JC Austin said their approach was different than in recent years, and possibly a bit risky. 

We will not see Thomas a Becket in the US till at least 2015


Austin's exclusive china, English Rose

Instead of basing the design on grand public gardens as has been done in the past, they focused on providing inspiration for private gardens. He noted people could easily recreate a corner of the Austin display at home, then just sit back, relax and enjoy the wonderful fragrance of the roses.


Henry VIII"s favorite royal residence now hosts an impressive flower show

The RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show also awarded the firm Gold for the best exhibit in the marquee.


When they found out the theme was to be “Romance and Roses”, the Austin folks felt they almost had an unfair advantage. “After all, we are fortunate to have introduced some of the most romantic roses being grown in gardens today,” the great hybridizer said with a smile.

Another gold winner at the BBC Gardener's World show
Indeed, the display jam-packed with many-petalled, fragrant blooms and old world charm definitely caught the eyes (and I’d guess, noses) of the judges.

"Tea and cakes" at Hampton Court
By the way, David Austin English Roses also won major awards in France and Japan this year.

But I wondered how much beauty readers could handle in one posting.




          



          Many thanks to David Austin Roses for sharing their photos of the Chelsea and Hampton Court winners.




8 comments :

Skeeter said...

Beautiful! I can almost smell them through the computer!

Lynn Hunt said...

Ha ha, Skeeter! Good thing the fragrance doesn't come through my computer because of my dang allergies!

Les said...

Are there some D. Austins that do better in the heat and humidity of the south?

Lynn Hunt said...

Les, I know they have been conducting tests in various areas including the south and will find out the latest results for you. I know Tess, Teasing Georgia and James Galway were three that did well for me in steamy MD summers. More to come...

Janneke said...

Great post about David Austin roses at Chelsea and Hampton Court. The new 'Albrighton Rambler' looks beautiful, I wonder when this rose comes on the Dutch market. The pictures of the table settings, their beautiful china and cakes are mouthwatering. Austin's roses are lovely, I have quite a lot of them in the garden and last year I visited their nursery in Albrighton, but........the real antique, most French roses, are my favourites despite their only short flowering period.

Lynn Hunt said...

Janneke, that is the problem with all his English roses - they look beautiful and they are hard to resist. Some roses I ordered from other nurseries were disappointing this year (like First Love) so I will give them away to make room for others.

Glad you got to visit the nursery. Fabulous, isn't it? And I LOVE that china as well. If I didn't have cupboards heaving with Portmeirion Botanic Garden, I get some!

Sunil Patel said...

Hi Lynn, I'm just drooling over those pictures of such sumptuous and luxurious roses. I'm glad that I have a few so I don't feel completely left out but I'm sorry for anyone who is. The ones I have are currently flowering again and look set to continue until the frosts hit (hopefully not for a little while yet). I've already managed to cut and bring in several bunches, we've had that many, they're gorgeous.

Lynn Hunt said...

Sunil,
The fall roses are always a bonus and I think I enjoy them more than any time of the year. Last year I brought in a few just before Christmas and that was a thrill. Glad you enjoyed the photos. I'd love to know their secrets for creating these fabulous displays!

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