David Austin Roses, Ltd.

2019 Jane Righter Rose Medal

In recognition of their achievements hybridizing roses, creating a collection of unique rose cultivars that have inspired the incorporation of roses in twenty-first century gardens worldwide.

Proposed by: Dolley Madison Garden Club, Zone VII

David C.H. Austin mastered the art and science of rose hybridization, creating a unique breed recognized as “English Roses.” Since 1969 David Austin Roses, Ltd. has introduced 240 English Rose cultivars, successfully combining the beautiful full-petaled flowers and intoxicating fragrance of “old roses” with the best attributes of modern roses, including repeat flowering and diverse colors. Guided by three generations of leadership, David Austin Roses is proud to be one of the world’s largest rose breeders and best-known rose nurseries. The company won the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit for 28 different varieties of “English Roses” and 24 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show. The David Austin Rose Garden in Albrighton received the World Federation of Rose Societies’ Award of Garden Excellence. Through exhibitions of Austin cultivars and continuing public rose culture education, David Austin English Roses has inspired a renewed interest among twenty-first century rose gardeners.

The Jane Righter Rose Medal is awarded for outstanding achievement in rose culture through the propagation of new roses, civic achievement in community rose gardens of educational value, exhibitions by amateur gardeners, or unusual rose collections of special merit.

The Jane Righter Rose Medal was endowed by the Greenwich Garden Club, Zone II, in memory of its member and a graduate and trustee of the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women. She was an active exhibitor, judge, and lecturer on gardens and well-known for her propagation of roses. The medal depicts ‘Dainty Bess,’ one of Jane’s favorite roses. The medal was first awarded in 1942 and was designed in 1941 by sculptor Gertrude K. Lathrop.

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