英国 大卫·奥斯汀玫瑰 David Austin Roses – 「English Rose」（英玫）育种苗圃

1961 年首玫面世与 1969 年家族企业在阿尔布赖顿扎根

大卫·奥斯汀玫瑰（David Austin Roses，中文常称「大卫·奥斯汀」「奥斯汀玫瑰」，官方品牌 David Austin®）是一家位于英国英格兰什罗普郡（Shropshire）阿尔布赖顿村（Albrighton）的家族玫瑰育种企业，靠近伍尔弗汉普顿（Wolverhampton）。公司的育种史以英国玫瑰育种家大卫·查理·亨肖·奥斯汀（David Charles Henshaw Austin OBE VMH，1926 年 2 月 16 日 – 2018 年 12 月 18 日）为核心：他在自家花园中着手杂交试验，1961 年推出第一个商业化品种 Rosa「Constance Spry」，1967–1968 年又陆续推出「Chianti」和「Shropshire Lass」等大花老玫瑰性状明显的品种；1969 年他与家人在阿尔布赖顿正式创立 David Austin Roses 有限公司，从此把毕生精力投入到「保留老玫瑰的花形与香气，又兼具现代月季的重复开花与丰富色彩」这一育种方向上。

English Rose 体系的建立与四大育种分组

奥斯汀把这种兼具老玫瑰气质与现代月季习性的新品类统称为「English Rose」（英玫），尽管皇家园艺学会（RHS）、美国月季协会（ARS）等机构并未将其列为单独的月季分类，但在苗圃目录、月季文献与爱好者圈子里「English Rose / Austin Rose」已经通用。为了便于内部选育与推广，公司把英玫大致划分为四组：老玫瑰杂交组（The Old Rose Hybrids，外观接近老玫瑰但重复开花、抗病且色彩更广）、Leander 组（多用 Rosa wichurana 血统，株型开展，适宜做柱形或低矮藤本）、English Musk 组（基于「Iceberg」与诺瓦伊瑟特血统，枝条纤细、花色淡雅，香气偏向麝香）、English Alba Hybrids 组（植株高大、叶色偏蓝灰）。自 1961 年第一个商业品种面世至今，公司在创始人奥斯汀先生一生中共推出超过 190 个英玫品种；栽培品种的命名常取材自家人、知名月季学者、英国地标、历史事件，以及莎士比亚、乔叟等英国文学作家与作品，例如「Mary Rose」纪念亨利八世的旗舰，「Scepter’d Isle」取自莎士比亚《理查二世》中的台词。

什罗普郡农场、手工芽接与切尔西花展纪录

奥斯汀一家长期在什罗普郡的家庭农场中手工完成从杂交、选种、芽接到扩繁的全部环节，每一株出售的苗都经过有经验的嫁接师傅亲手芽接，这种延续了几代人的小规模手工方式被公司视作品质核心。公司的展示与销售也长期扎根在阿尔布赖顿的家族庄园：这里既设有绵延数十公顷的英玫展示花园，常年展示数百个品种在不同季节的表现，又附带植物中心、礼品店和供爱好者翻阅的《David Austin Handbook of Roses》年刊。公司在英国皇家园艺学会切尔西花展（RHS Chelsea Flower Show）上保持着极为罕见的纪录：自首次参展以来，累计获得 37 次切尔西金奖，其中 2019 年是创始人去世后的第一届，公司依旧拿下第 25 枚金牌，并把展台布置成「秘密花园」主题，新推的「Eustacia Vye」与「Gabriel Oak」分别以托马斯·哈代小说中的人物命名。

家族传承、第三代接棒与近年新品种

奥斯汀先生一生获得多项重要荣誉：2003 年获皇家园艺学会维多利亚荣誉勋章（Victoria Medal of Honour），同年获皇家园家月季学会颁发的 Dean Hole 奖章；2004 年获英国园艺中心协会（Garden Centre Association）终身成就奖；2007 年因对园艺事业的贡献获颁 OBE 大英帝国勋章；2010 年被授予「Great Rosarian of the World」称号。他于 2018 年 12 月在什罗普郡家中去世，享年 92 岁，葬于阿尔布赖顿的圣玛丽抹大拉教堂（St Mary Magdalene, Albrighton）。其子小大卫·奥斯汀（David J. C. Austin）1990 年加入公司，长期担任董事会主席，与父亲一同把业务拓展到欧洲、日本、美国，并开辟了切花玫瑰业务；2026 年小大卫·奥斯汀在什罗普郡家中去世后，公司由第三代——他的三个孩子 Richard、James 与 Olivia——继续运营：Richard 主管品牌与电商，James 负责运营，Olivia 加入董事会协助家族事业延续。在育种端，公司近年仍持续推出新品：例如 2026 年切尔西花展前夕发布的「Sir David Beckham™（Ausa34b16）」在英国公开亮相前便已通过早鸟名单开放预订。

英玫在家庭花园中的实用价值与品种资源

对家庭园艺爱好者而言，David Austin Roses 的英玫以「花形丰满、香气浓郁、重复开花、抗病较稳定」几个特点见长，几乎覆盖花园中的全部使用场景：灌木型（English Shrub Rose）适合做花境主角或混合花坛背景，藤本型（English Climbing Rose / Rambling Rose）可攀上墙面、拱门与花架，标准树月季（Standard Tree Rose）便于在小花园中创造立体层次。该机构上线了一套 Rose Finder 工具，按颜色（粉、白与奶白、杏与橙、红、黄、紫）、香味强度、植株高度、适用位置（前院、墙面、容器、拱门、凉棚、出入口）以及耐阴耐湿等园艺属性细分品种，方便用户在数百个英玫中按需检索；同时官方还按月提供裸根苗（bare root rose）与盆栽苗（potted rose）两种购买方式，每年秋季至早春是裸根苗下地的传统窗口。在育种、繁育与展示之外，公司还在阿尔布赖顿向访客开放展示花园与植物中心，并持续维护以创始人名义设立的英玫品种库与官方手册，使这家三代家族企业既保持着英国乡村农场式的家庭气质，又持续把英玫这一新品类推广到全球的家庭花园中。

From the 1961 First Commercial Rose to the 1969 Family Firm in Albrighton

David Austin Roses (brand: David Austin®) is a family-run English rose-breeding firm based in the village of Albrighton, Shropshire, near Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands of England. The company’s story centres on the British rose breeder David Charles Henshaw Austin OBE VMH (16 February 1926 – 18 December 2018), who began crossing roses in his own garden and introduced his first commercial cultivar, Rosa ‘Constance Spry’, in 1961. Two further old-rose style varieties followed in 1967–1968, and in 1969 he formally founded David Austin Roses in Albrighton, dedicating the rest of his life to breeding roses that combined the flower form and fragrance of old garden roses (gallicas, damasks, albas) with the repeat-flowering habit and colour range of modern hybrid teas and floribundas.

The English Rose Concept and the Four Breeding Groups

Austin named this new line of repeat-flowering old-rose-style varieties “English Roses” (also commonly called Austin Roses), a term widely adopted by gardeners, rosarians and nursery catalogues even though bodies such as the Royal National Rose Society and the American Rose Society have never recognised it as a separate rose class. To organise the breeding programme the company loosely groups its cultivars into four families: the Old Rose Hybrids (old-rose appearance with modern health, colour range and repeat flowering), the Leander Group (often carrying Rosa wichurana in their pedigree, with larger arching bushes suitable for pillars and low climbers), the English Musk Roses (slender, pale-green growth derived in part from ‘Iceberg’ and Noisette roses), and the English Alba Hybrids (tall, blue-leaved bushes reminiscent of the old Albas). Since 1961 the firm has introduced more than 190 English Roses during its founder’s lifetime. Cultivar names frequently draw on family members, well-known rosarians, British landmarks, historical events, and English writers such as Shakespeare and Chaucer: ‘Mary Rose’ honours Henry VIII’s flagship, while ‘Scepter’d Isle’ takes its name from a speech in Shakespeare’s Richard II.

The Shropshire Farm, Hand-Budding and Chelsea Flower Show Record

For decades the Austin family has run the breeding, selection, budding and propagation work almost entirely by hand on the Shropshire family farm, and every plant the firm sells is hand-budded by experienced budders, a tradition the company treats as central to its quality. The Albrighton estate also houses the firm’s display gardens, plant centre and gift shop, and is the home of the annual free catalogue “David Austin Handbook of Roses”, which lists Austin cultivars alongside many of their parents and relatives. On the show bench David Austin Roses holds a rare record at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show: 37 Gold Medals across its exhibiting history. The 2019 show, the first after the founder’s death in 2018, brought the 25th Gold Medal for the firm and introduced two new roses, ‘Eustacia Vye’ and ‘Gabriel Oak’, named after characters in the novels of Thomas Hardy.

Family Succession, the Third Generation and Recent Cultivars

Austin’s lifetime honours include the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour (2003), the Dean Hole Medal from the Royal National Rose Society (also 2003), the Garden Centre Association’s lifetime achievement award (2004), an OBE in the 2007 Birthday Honours for services to horticulture, and the title “Great Rosarian of the World” in 2010. He died at his Shropshire home in December 2018 at the age of 92 and was buried at St Mary Magdalene Church in Albrighton in January 2019. His son David J. C. Austin joined the business in 1990 and served as chairman, helping to expand the firm into Europe, Japan and the United States and to build a cut-rose trade. Following David J. C. Austin’s death at his Shropshire home in 2026, the company continues under the third generation: his three children Richard, James and Olivia, who serve as directors of the family business; Richard leads brand and e-commerce, James oversees operations, and Olivia has also taken on a board role. The breeding programme continues to release new cultivars; for example, ‘Sir David Beckham™ (Ausa34b16)’ was offered to an early-access list ahead of its public debut at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

English Roses in Home Gardens and the Rose Finder Resource

For home gardeners, David Austin Roses’ English Roses are valued for their full old-rose form, strong fragrance, repeat-flowering habit and relatively robust health, and they span almost every position in the garden: English Shrub Roses anchor mixed borders or stand alone as specimen plants, English Climbing Roses and Rambling Roses cover walls, arches and pergolas, while Standard Tree Roses add height and structure to small gardens. The official website runs a Rose Finder that lets visitors filter the catalogue by colour (pink, white and cream, apricot and orange, red, yellow, purple), fragrance strength, mature size, garden location (front of house, wall, pots and containers, archway, pergola, doorway) and tolerance of shade or damp conditions. Plants are sold both as bare-root roses, traditionally planted from autumn through early spring, and as potted roses available year-round. Beyond the breeding and nursery work, the firm continues to open its display gardens and plant centre to visitors at Albrighton and to publish the David Austin Handbook of Roses, keeping this three-generation family business rooted in the British country-farm tradition while promoting the English Rose as a global category of garden rose.

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