David Austin Roses Names Flower After Black Gardener

By Jill Brooke

David Austin – the Rolls Royce of rose breeders in England – has unveiled its new apricot rose at the Chelsea Flower Show 2023.

David Austin^® Roses presented its new English shrub rose named after Danny Clarke – The Black Gardener, with $10,000 from the proceeds donated to not-for-profit Grow2Know. Not surprisingly, it also won a Gold award at the prestigious flower show.

According to the company, Dannahue^® has the most unusual and wonderfully complex fragrances. Fruity lemon, lychee and fresh apricot are wrapped in a softer layer of tea and myrrh which balance out the zest, imbuing it with warmth.

Since every flower in their company has a story behind it, this flower was inspired by Danny Clarke.  As the company explains, “in 2022, David Austin was hugely impressed with an RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden called ‘Hands off Mangrove’ by not-for-profit Grow2Know. The garden was designed by Danny Clarke along with Grow2Know founder, Tayshan Hayden-Smith, and powerfully united the two prominent issues of social injustice and global deforestation.

Intrigued by Danny’s drive to make gardening more accessible and inclusive this city-dwelling rose was the perfect pairing to share our passion for the power of gardening and enabling roses to bloom in any landscape.”

Of course, the flower wasn’t just created last year. All of their flowers go through a long process before coming to the market. This English shrub rose took 12 years of meticulous breeding, But naming it is part of the David Austin marketing magic. What a good choice and what a good color to blend with other favorites such as special roses like Gertrude Jekyll, Hyde Hall, and Roald Dahl.

Photo Credit: David Austin