- Gertrude Jekyll:
The Woman Behind the Name
A Name Rooted in Beauty
Gertrude Jekyll. For many today, the name belongs to a rose - rich pink, deeply fragrant, always dependable. But long before it was attached to one of David Austin’s finest creations, it belonged to a woman whose influence shaped the English garden itself. She was not flamboyant, not loud, but she left an imprint that endures quietly in the folds of herbaceous borders and the soft haze of summer blooms.
An Artist First
Born in 1843 in Mayfair, London, Gertrude Jekyll showed early promise not as a gardener, but as a painter. She trained at the South Kensington School of Art, where her sense of colour, form and composition began to take shape. Those painterly instincts never left her. When failing eyesight curtailed her career as an artist in her forties, she turned her eye to the garden. What might have been a sorrowful retreat became her life’s great work.
A New Way of Seeing
Jekyll brought to garden design what few had before: a deep understanding of colour theory, seasonal movement and natural form. Her borders flowed with subtle gradations of hue. Cool mauves melted into warm apricots. Grasses nodded beside the bold spires of delphiniums. She rejected the stiff formalities of Victorian bedding schemes in favour of something looser, more expressive, more true to nature.
She saw gardens as living pictures, always in motion and always developing. Each plant was chosen not just for its flower, but for the shape of its leaves, the texture of its stems, the way it behaved in light. Her borders were never still. They whispered and shifted in the breeze. They invited the visitor to linger.
Partnership and Purpose
Jekyll’s long-standing collaboration with the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens brought her vision into perfect balance. Where she brought softness, Lutyens provided structure. Stone paths, dry-stone walls, sundials and pergolas gave her plantings a frame. Together, they created some of the most admired gardens of the early twentieth century. Places like Hestercombe, Munstead Wood and Castle Drogo, where planting and architecture spoke as one.
Gardens for Everyone
Though she designed over 400 gardens in her lifetime, Gertrude Jekyll was also a prolific writer. Her books, including Colour in the Flower Garden and Wood and Garden, remain quietly instructive, rich with observation and grounded advice. She wrote as she gardened, with precision, warmth and a gentle sense of encouragement.
She never set herself above her reader. There was no grandiosity in her tone. Only the belief that anyone, with time and care, could make something beautiful grow.
Echoes in Every Border
Jekyll’s gardens may not all have survived, but her influence lives on. The mixed border, now a staple of English-style gardens across the world, owes much to her. Her emphasis on seasonality, on the poetry of planting, still guides modern designers. And of course, her name blooms afresh each spring and summer on the canes of that fine rose, richly scented, deeply coloured and altogether gracious.
Remembering Gertrude
In the garden at twilight, she moves quietly, skirts brushing against the lavender, secateurs held loosely in hand. Not searching for perfection, but always striving for harmony. She understood that gardens are not static displays. They are stories told in colour, form and scent. Always unfolding, always alive.
To remember Gertrude Jekyll is to remember that gentleness has strength, and that beauty, when deeply observed, becomes a form of wisdom. Hers was a life spent in quiet service to that beauty, and the gardens of the world are the better for it.
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Gertrude Jekyll® (Ausbord): The World’s Favourite RoseIn May 2025, Rosa Gertrude Jekyll® (Ausbord) was named the “World’s Favourite Rose” by the World Federation of Rose Societies, a distinction awarded through a global vote involving rose lovers from 40 countries. This accolade celebrates a rose that has quietly yet firmly held a place in the hearts of gardeners for almost forty years.Read more68 days ago -
Gertrude Jekyll: Caring for the World’s Favourite RoseThis rose is not fussy. It grows well in many conditions but does best with at least four hours of sunlight a day. It tolerates some shade and suits almost any garden aspect, whether north, south, east or west, so long as the soil allows roots to breathe and does not stay soggy. To support healthy growth, mixing in some compost or well-rotted manure at planting helps enrich the soil and improve its texture.Read more60 days ago -
Gertrude Jekyll: The Fragrance of the World’s Favourite RoseThere are roses one grows for colour, for form, for habit. And then there are those chosen simply for how they make the air feel. Rosa Gertrude Jekyll® (Ausbord) is one of the latter. Not merely scented, but steeped in scent. Fragrance is its character, its memory, its presence in the garden long after the blooms are gone.Read more54 days ago -
Designing with Gertrude Jekyll: A Rose at Home in Every BorderFew roses are held in such regard as Gertrude Jekyll® (Ausbord). Valued for its rich, mid-pink blooms and one of the strongest Old Rose fragrances in cultivation, it has become a familiar name among gardeners. Yet it is not only the scent that secures its place. This is a rose with structure, presence and the ability to draw planting together. It offers more than a single season’s beauty. It gives shape to the garden and settles easily among other plants, whether used in formal arrangements or in looser, more naturalistic schemes.Read more47 days ago -
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When Music Meets the Garden: Roses Inspired by the PromsEach summer the Proms bring music, tradition and joy to the Royal Albert Hall. From the first shimmering notes to the final chorus, audiences are carried into a world where sound becomes memory. At David Austin®, we mark this festival in our own way, with roses that are themselves named after music and musicians who have moved us. These varieties hold within them the same qualities of rhythm, harmony and timeless beauty.Read moreYesterday -
From Flower to Fruit: How Hips Give Life to New RosesAt 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.Read more3 days ago -
Penelope Lively™ (Ausb18a15): A Rose for a StorytellerSome roses seem to hold a story in their petals, and Rosa Penelope Lively® (Ausb18a15) is one of them. Named for the much-loved writer, this English Shrub Rose carries both elegance and quiet depth, a living tribute to a voice that has shaped contemporary literature.Read more4 days ago -
Roses in the Shadow: English Roses for Shaded SpotsWhen we speak of “shade” in the garden, it is important to be precise. Few roses will prosper in deep shadow, but many are perfectly happy with four or five hours of sunlight a day. Think of those north-facing walls or quiet spots that bask in morning or evening light. These are not wasted spaces; with the right roses, they can become some of the most enchanting areas of the garden.Read more9 days ago -
Once-Flowering Roses: A Guide to PruningOnce-flowering roses carry an air of tradition, a reminder of old gardens where their brief but magnificent display was the highlight of summer. They bloom on wood made the year before, so pruning them is a matter of patience and respect for their natural rhythm.Read more11 days ago -
Growing a Love of Roses with ChildrenGuest blog by Helen Cross - Author, Journalist, Presenter, and School Gardening Champion. At the start of every gardening session with a new group of children, I always ask them what flower, fruit, or vegetable they would like to grow in their school garden. You might be surprised, but over the last five years, three or four out of every ten children have told me they want to grow roses.Read more16 days ago
