Monty Don has shared a deeply emotional tribute following the death of celebrated rose grower and longtime Gardeners’ World contributor David J.C. Austin, who has died aged 67.

The Gardeners’ World presenter expressed his sadness after news emerged that Austin, chairman of the world-renowned David Austin Roses, had died at his home in Shropshire after being diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and incurable neurological condition.

For generations of gardeners, the Austin name has become inseparable from some of the most beautiful roses grown in Britain and around the world.

And in a touching message, Monty reflected not only on the sadness of the loss, but on the extraordinary living legacy Austin leaves behind.

“I am so sorry to hear this. My regards and condolences to all his family,” Monty wrote on Instagram.

“But what legacy he leaves — millions of exquisite roses that will live on for so many, enriching all our lives.”

It was a simple tribute, but one that captured something deeply poignant about Austin’s life’s work.

Long after his passing, the roses he helped nurture, protect and share with the world will continue to bloom in gardens for generations to come.

A familiar name to Gardeners’ World fans

David J.C. Austin had a longstanding connection with the Gardeners’ World family.

Experts from the Shropshire-based David Austin Roses nursery have regularly appeared across the BBC programme, Gardeners’ World magazine and Gardeners’ World Live events, sharing their knowledge and passion with millions of gardening enthusiasts.

That close relationship made the news of his death particularly moving for those connected with the programme and Britain’s wider gardening community.

Gardeners’ World magazine shared its own condolences, writing: “We’re so very sorry to hear this. Sending our love to you all.”

The Royal Horticultural Society also paid tribute, saying it was “deeply saddened” by the news and sending love and condolences to the Austin family.

Broadcaster and keen gardening enthusiast Zoe Ball was among those who responded publicly to the sad announcement.

“Sending love and condolences to the Austin family. Heartbreaking news,” she wrote.

The messages reflected just how widely respected Austin was within British horticulture.

Carrying forward his father’s extraordinary vision

David J.C. Austin joined the family rose-growing business in 1990.

The company had been founded by his father, legendary rose breeder David C.H. Austin, whose vision transformed the world of rose breeding by combining the beauty and fragrance of traditional garden roses with qualities found in more modern varieties.

When David J.C. Austin became part of the business, he took on the enormous responsibility of helping preserve and develop that legacy.

He would go on to chair the company for three decades.

Yet according to those who knew him best, his achievements were never simply about business.

At heart, he remained a gardener.

That was the message at the centre of an emotional tribute from his three children, Richard, James and Olivia.

“First and foremost, dad was a gardener,” they said.

“He carried our grandfather’s vision with humility and an unwavering sense of responsibility, always putting the roses, the family business and its people before himself.”

Those words paint a moving picture of a man who inherited not merely a company, but a responsibility to protect something his family had spent decades creating.

And he devoted much of his life to doing exactly that.

A legacy that will continue to bloom

There is something especially poignant about Monty Don’s description of Austin’s legacy.

For many people, a legacy exists in photographs, memories or stories passed down through families.

David J.C. Austin leaves something people can actually watch bloom.

Across Britain and far beyond, countless gardens are filled with roses connected to the Austin family’s work — plants carefully chosen, tended and loved by gardeners who may never have met the people behind them.

Each spring and summer, those roses return.

They climb walls, spill across borders and fill gardens with colour and fragrance.

It is perhaps this that makes Monty’s words — “millions of exquisite roses that will live on” — feel particularly powerful.

Austin’s death marks a profound loss for his family, colleagues and the horticultural world.

But the beauty he helped preserve will remain visible in gardens for years to come.

For Gardeners’ World viewers who have followed the work of David Austin Roses through television appearances, magazine features and gardening events, the news will undoubtedly feel like the loss of an important figure in a much-loved corner of British gardening.

Behind the famous name was, as his children so beautifully put it, first and foremost “a gardener”.

And perhaps there could be no more fitting memorial than the millions of roses that will continue to flower long after his passing.

As Monty Don’s tribute so movingly reminds us, David J.C. Austin leaves behind more than a celebrated name.

He leaves gardens filled with beauty.

And every time those roses bloom, a small part of that remarkable legacy blooms with them.