Mother’s Day is a time to reflect on the women who have shaped our lives - our mothers, grandmothers, or any maternal figure who has left an imprint on our hearts. While we may not always be physically close to those we love, there is something enduring and quiet that keeps us connected: the beauty of a garden and the plants within it.

This year, we asked three members of our team what Mother’s Day means to them. Their stories, each rooted in love and remembrance, remind us that roses are more than just flowers. They are symbols of connection, of moments shared, and of memories that bloom year after year.

"When I think of roses, I think of my grandmother’s garden in Normandy, in the house where my mother grew up and where I spent all my holidays as a child. It was a place of soft colours and delicate fragrance, where time seemed to slow. The garden stretched behind the house, framed by old stone walls, with hybrid tea roses standing tall in neat rows. Their elegant, sculpted blooms in shades of blush pink, creamy white, and deep crimson were, and still are, my grandmother’s pride and joy. In the mornings, the air was laced with their gentle scent, warmed by the sun, and in the evenings, the petals would glow softly in the fading light.

I remember wandering through that garden, the gravel crunching under my feet, carefully selecting roses to bring inside. My grandmother would show me how to snip the stems at an angle, how to remove the lower leaves so they would sit neatly in a vase. My mum would remind me to watch for thorns - something I rarely heeded until I felt their sharp sting. At the time, I didn’t appreciate these moments, but now, with a garden of my own, I find myself handling roses with the same care she taught me, feeling an unexpected closeness to her and to my mother’s childhood."

"My relationship with David Austin Roses began when I was young, through my granny, who had a number of them in her garden. She had The Pilgrim by her front door, which was admired by many visitors. Blooms were cut from this plant by neighbours for her memorial. Some years later, I gifted The Pilgrim ^®(Auswalker) to my best friend, and I’m so pleased it is still part of the David Austin collection today.

A rose is never just a flower. It carries stories, love, and memories. It can bring us back to childhood afternoons spent in a loved one’s garden or remind us of hands that once tended the same variety years ago. Whether you gift a rose or plant one yourself, it becomes a bridge, connecting the past and present, no matter how many miles separate us."

"For me, this connection extends beyond my family. The woman who taught me about roses, Mary, was the kind soul who gave me my first job in horticulture. Self-taught and a late career changer like me, she was a force to be reckoned with. She built a specialist nursery business from scratch in her own back garden, growing and nurturing it through life’s inevitable storms, eventually passing it on to her children and grandchildren.

In her early seventies when I met her, there was nothing she didn’t know about roses, and she was generous with her knowledge, especially with those who lit up like she did around them. Her passion was infectious, and the skills she shared with me quite literally changed the trajectory of my entire career. I would not be where I am today without her. I never see a new variety without hearing her voice in my mind, noting its astonishing beauty and wondering whether just one more rose could be squeezed into the garden.

It is so life-affirming that you can teach someone something that will be a source of joy and community to them forever. That your act of love will be passed on to friends, partners, relatives, and neighbours in a beautiful and ever-expanding legacy, nourishing not only people but the environment around us. It is the purest goodness."