Michael Marriott at the David Austin Rose Nursery in Albrighton providing some insights into rose planting, care and pruning on a bright October day a couple of years ago.

He is the Technical Director at David Austin, a Rosarian of renown, accomplished designer of rose gardens for the great, grand and good across the globe. If you see a rose garden that features David Austin roses at all, chances are he’s the man behind it!

This was a day-course at the Nurseries in Albrighton (west of Wolverhampton into Shropshire) on a bright October day and tells a little of the David Austin story. I’ve posted a potted history of the operations recently and a search of my own back catalogue will reap great rewards I’m certain!

How to plant a rose

Here (the first photograph) he was discussing planting bare rooted roses – though also by association container-grown plants too…

A tour around the show gardens at David Austin in Albrighton one bright late March day

These photographs were taken in the March at a Design Course run by David Austin, following the course in October that I’ve just written about. The bare bones of the gardens are laid bare and the winter pruning has been completed.

It will be interesting to look through both October and March galleries to see where the biggest changes have been wrought. Compare and Contrast!

This is the circular garden, The Victorian Garden, with the box-edged planting beds – and peacocks – with warm brick wall covered in climbers.

The pergolas and walkways are still supports for all manner of climbers and the more flexible ramblers. These have been twined around the supports (as much as some of the stiffer varieties can be – the ramblers take to this treatment much more readily). As…

The Long Garden, Lion Garden, Victorian Garden and The Renaissance Gardens at David Austin’s home ground at Albrighton in Shropshire. The site is home to these magnificent 2-acre gardens, the extensive plant centre, shop and restaurant as well as the business-end of things, the breeding glasshouses and trial beds, the production nursery for all of the potted and bare-root plants and the offices, delivery warehouses and thank fully, considerably chilled warehouses – it was a warm day yesterday when I was a guest of David Austin and given a tour around the whole operation. Bliss!

The Long Garden is essentially that, running the full length of the gardens with paths leading off into other gardens or office, or Mr Austin’s house. Brick pillared pergolas criss-cross the gardens with curtains of climbing and rambling roses almost obscuring the architecture. The Renaissance Garden features a black-watered canal and covered Loggia, with successive…

David Austin roses would seem to have the most extensive, comprehensive and probably expensive rose breeding program of any rose nursery in the world (I may be biased but it likely to be true!). After making between fifty thousand and sixty thousand crosses each year – one rose with another and more complicated crosses from previous explorations –  in their acreage of glasshouses, those rose deemed to have potential are planted out, in rows like this in the Trial Fields (this is just one), whereupon then they are watched and assessed, weekly, and results recorded for seven years or more.

Walking through this particular field, across the road from David Austin’s family home – he can likely see this over the hedge from an upstairs window – it is clear they have a business for many, many years ahead. We can try to guess the parentage of some of these…