my obscure faithful friend Jude

16 years ago

I've always wanted a rose garden, but being rootless for so long, I could never have one. I never understood why anyone would plant another bush, when you can have glorious flowers all summer with roses. I guess I am not alone in that conviction

Four years ago, I bought a townhouse in N. Virginia, close to Washington DC. I was planting roots of my own. It had a tiny garden, with some very boring plants and bushes. But part of the garden was west facing and got good sun all afternoon. So I plotted that the following spring, I would rip out 3 tired looking azaleas and put in roses.

Well fate had a different idea. I fell that april, and dislocated my shoulder and I spent the summer with my arm in a sling. Heavy garden work was out of the question

But my local nursery had a bunch of austin roses, and had one that caught my eye. It was Jude the Obscure, or just 'Jude' as I call him. Seeing me in my sling, the nursery staff took pity, and planted Jude in a big pot for me and I took him home. All during my long convalescence that summer, Jude just sat out front and bloomed his head off. The fragrant blossoms made him the most popular resident in my development. He bloomed all the way to Thanksgiving that year!

Well, roll forward three years, and Jude is still there. I have long since dug out the ugly azaleas, and even tried out some other roses (they just couldn't compare to Jude). Some years were better than others, sometimes, to be honest, I neglected him. But, he remains my faithful friend, always at work perfuming my small garden. He never asks for much for me, just some water, and a bit of food. He never gets diseased, even though blackspot is a big problem around here.

This year, Jude is 3, and is coming into his own. I gave a good pruning at the end of the winter (his first). He loved that, and now he is covered with 20, 30...I lost count of how many blossoms he has. Through thick and thin, through all the ups and downs of life, there he is, my obscure faithful friend Jude

Here is a link to his pic (I hope it works)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:262910}}

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Comments (10)

carla17
16 years ago
Jude is one rose that I need two of. I love it and am glad you have one.

Carla
lisacdm
16 years ago
Wow, you are so lucky. This is Jude's second year with me and I have yet to see a bloom - not one. The bush looks healthy and other roses are blooming or on the verge of blooming, but Jude just sits there. He has one more year in this prime spot and than out he goes.
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I don't know about your zone, but in hot humid South Mississippi, Buff Beauty is definitely an excellent choice. It is , in my opinion, one of the better hybrid musks: disease resistant, will take some shade, strong grower and bloomer, will climb some if you let it, reliable and fragrant. I haven't grown J. Obscure, but I am leery of Austins in this area, though I know they are popular and well promoted. There are only a few of the Austins, in my experience, that do really well here year after year. Some have a tough time getting started, and others seem to take off with a bang but then succumb to disease or get gradually weaker over time compared to many of the OGRs. Three of the better Austins for this area are Pilgrim, G. Jekyll, and G. Thomas. These are healthy strong growers. I originally thought Jekyll was just a gimmick, appearing nearly identical to its Comte de Chambord parent, but I have to admit that in my hands Jekyll is much the healthier. Apparently, in this instance, Austin has managed to produce a rose with bloom identical to C. d. C but with superior vigor and disease resistance -- a significant contribution. Like C.d.C, Jekyll is exceedingly fragrant!, has the same classical rose fragrance as C.d.C, and the same vicious thorns. Jekyll responds well to hard pruning. It seems to demand it in fact.. Many of the Other Austins, and I have grown quite a few, are just not that great in terms of longevity and disease resistance here. My opinion is that, in general, they are over rated for my area, with the exceptions I mentioned. There are so many, probably too many, Austin introductions that it is hard to keep up with them. So there are quite a few I haven't tried. There are likely one or two more decent ones in addition to those I mentioned.
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You get a gold star for being a great enabler! Bringing flowers to the office really works. Years ago I brought in Portland from Glendora and ended up giving youngsters that had sprung up around my rose to three different people. They all commented that this rose smelled like one their grandmother had in her garden. Ingrid
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Anne, beautiful color and form on those blooms. If mine turn out looking like that, I'll consider myself lucky. Carol, ack! Would I be completly smoking crack to think I could keep them pruned to fit the space...other than being higher maintenance, would it hurt them to keep them smaller? Could I skimp on the winter protection to ensure dieback? ;) I'd hate to move them. When I planted them, I used some "soil conditioner" (finely shredded bark), manure, and some coffee grounds. So I think I'll be good on the soil front, from what I've found online, old beds can be a problem if the old roses were diseased or there over 10 years and "used up" all the nutrients...the previous roses were neither of these.
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Thanks, iris_gal and Juliet. Thanks, boxofrox, and no, sorry, my WS is purple, too. Perhaps I should stop posting pictures of it:-(, I think even good cameras have trouble with red and mine is just a point and shoot. Sorry again for the confusion. Masha
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winterrobin
16 years ago
Nova, what an uplifting story, and so well written, too!
Well, now that I see that two of you are growing Jude in Z7,
I am adding him to my wish list!
bluesibe
16 years ago
Jude is a handsome dude, but even better is that grapefruit scent that intoxicates.

Carol
cconway04
16 years ago
Nova_novice, not to steal your thread--but where, oh where, are you locally finding Austins?!? I tirelessly search the nurseries around northern Virginia but can't find anything beyond the Knockouts and carpet roses.

Charlene
nova_novice
Original Author
16 years ago
Charlene

I bought Jude at Campbell and Ferrara, which is on Little River Turnpike. They usually have some Austin roses, although I have not seen Jude the Obscure there since I bought him, which is a shame because it really is a worthwhile rose. I was just there this morning, didn't see any Austin roses, but they may get some more shipments.

You can also look at Merrifield Gardens near Dunn Loring, I think they usually have some Austins as well.

If you want to order off the web, try S&W Greenhouse out of Tennessee. They have Austins, as do many good online nurseries. But what I like about them is that they ship pretty large plants (grafted), I got a big grandiflora (Crimson Bouquet), it was as big as anything I've seen at a local nursery (and in excellent condition).

-Basil
cconway04
16 years ago
Thanks for the reply! I have bought all my Austins and OGRs online--but sometimes I'm just in the mood for some instant gratification, if you know what I mean! On second thought, though, maybe it's better off this way...

Charlene
carla17
16 years ago
lisacdm, I think it took at least 3 years for my Jude to mature, it is worth the wait. I think it is 5 years old now. I will order another next year!

Carla
lynnis
16 years ago
Gardens of Delight in Paeonian Springs (5 miles north of Leesburg) is another Austin dealer in NOVA. They are small but carry unusual and heirloom plants.
lisacdm
16 years ago
Carla, thnaks for giving me some hope. The plant is healthy so I'll wait it out.
Lisa

my obscure faithful friend Jude

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my obscure faithful friend Jude

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