Rachieaj, I'm in metro Melbourne and my Jude (about 8 years old) is about 1.6m x 1.5m. I planted it before the water restrictions really kicked in so didn't get a good start and remained quite small. Since I have been able to give it the required water, it has flourished and have found it flowers well in Spring and Autumn, but in Summer it just barely ticks along. It could be because it gets no shade and is in a garden bed bordering a paved patio, since a lot of Austins prefer cooler conditions. I am waiting to see what it does this year and if necessary, will move it to where it will get more sun protection.

I've grown Golden Celebration for 17-18 years, and I don't remember it ever being susceptible to cold, even when we had a zone 5 winter in 2016-7. GC is one of my top three or four Austins. I agree about grafted, but I like all my roses grafted. Here are a few Golden Cel photos from this year. No blooms in my garden right now because of the series of hard freezes down to 24F we had a week or so ago. Of course, it has warmed up some now. Too late. Oh, GC is about 9 feet tall, at least, and it's pruned well every spring, returning to this size yearly. Diane With his friend and neighbor, Boscobel

I have 2, both own root from Heirloom - one I got last year, and the other I got this spring. I'm finding these replies really interesting because the one I got last year is twiggy & small & was definitely a late spring starter, but the one I got this year is growing like crazy & already bigger than last year's. I wonder if there is an inherent variation in the cuttings with this rose, where some are more vigorous than others? (Take this all with a grain of salt, as they are both in pots & I tried underplanting last year's plant, so there may also be some root competition going on. They are in slightly different locations, but both get morning sun - I think they would like more sun than they get.)

Jude is worth buying for the fragrance alone! Strong even in freezing late autumn rains and great as a cut flower. Here in England it buds out later than other roses and so only seems capable of 2 flushes (a third one usually fails as we reach late October/November). But when it does bloom it goes absolutely crazy with just how many flowers it pushes out. As for balling, I can't say i've noticed it much, and let me tell you it's rainy in England. Olivia Rose Austin is a much more guilty culprit, to the point where I might just shovel prune the whole thing next year if it doesn't step up it's game this summer.