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Sir David Beckham (Ausa34b16) is a rose shaped by natural beauty, quiet strength and a deeply personal story. Created to mark a milestone year and inspired by a touching request from Harper for her father’s 50th birthday, this remarkable new English Shrub Rose is rooted in something deeply meaningful, a living symbol of family, resilience and enduring love. Yet beyond the story behind its name, Sir David Beckham is, above all, a rose of great garden beauty and presence. 

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a celebration of horticultural excellence, and this year, we are pleased to share an important milestone from the Grand Pavilion. David Austin^® Roses has been recognised by the RHS as a peat-free champion, reflecting a long-standing commitment to protecting vital ecosystems and reducing environmental impact.

With Sir David Beckham’s birthday this weekend, it feels like the perfect time to share the heartfelt story behind a project that has been quietly blooming at our Shropshire nursery. While the official debut is still to come, the journey of this new variety began last year when Sir David celebrated his milestone 50th birthday. His daughter, Harper, wanted to give a truly unique gift: a rose that would reflect her father's love for the British countryside and the hours they share together in the family garden.

There is a brief, suspended moment each year just before the garden fully awakens. The light begins to soften, the days stretch out, and the air carries a new weight - as though the landscape is holding its breath. Here at David Austin^®, it is in the Species Garden that this tension finally breaks, and the season begins to unfold.

For David Austin Roses, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the defining moment of our year. It represents months of preparation, horticultural precision and a shared passion for the English rose. With 29 Gold Medals to our name, the pressure to evolve is always there, but our focus remains on creating a garden that feels authentic and enduring.

There’s a quiet sense of momentum across the gardens as spring begins to take hold here in Albrighton. The mornings are still cool, often touched with a light frost, while the days arrive bright and clear, carrying a little more warmth with each passing week.

Royal Mail has unveiled a new collection of stamps celebrating the rose, featuring ten botanical watercolour illustrations created by the acclaimed artist Marie Burke. The collection captures a range of roses, from delicate wild species to well-loved garden varieties. Among them is Rosa Constance Spry, the first English Rose bred by our founder, David C. H. Austin.

In the days following the centenary of David C. H. Austin’s birth on 16 February, it feels fitting to reflect more deeply on how he worked and why his influence endures. David approached rose breeding as a long and thoughtful process. From the first cross to final introduction, a single rose could take ten years or more. Each season brought new seedlings, most of which would be quietly set aside. He watched closely, learning how a rose opened, how it aged, how fragrance developed, and how a plant behaved over time. Often, he could be found walking the trial fields, pausing over a seedling, noting its character and potential.

Today, 16th February, marks what would have been one hundred years since the birth of David C. H. Austin, whose vision transformed the modern garden and reimagined what a rose could be.

There are years when the garden feels especially alive and full of stories. In 2025, at David Austin^®, we saw moments that reminded us why we spend our days among stems and buds. Beginnings that feel full of promise, flowers that arrive ahead of expectation, and new roses introduced on some of the most celebrated stages in gardening.

Our breeding team shares what this special season means to them, as the hips ripen in the glasshouses and the next generation of roses begins its journey.

At David Austin Roses, the greenhouses are alive with energy as thousands of young plants grow and develop. This is the stage where the next generation of roses begins to take shape, starting with the formation of rose hips, the small fruits that hold the seeds of future blooms.

The Gertrude Jekyll^® rose is known and loved for its rich, classic fragrance and those beautifully shaped old-fashioned blooms. Though it began in England, gardeners in very different parts of the world have welcomed it into their gardens with equal affection. To celebrate this special rose, we reached out to growers in Japan, Italy and the United States to hear how Gertrude Jekyll^® grows and blooms in their own climates and garden styles.