Jude the Obscure

class: David Austin Rose
breeding: Austin, 1995
photographed by Daphne Filiberti in her garden

'Jude the Obscure' is the most vigorous grower of my English Roses. It is also one of the most beautiful, and most fragrant. In my section on rose fragrances, I wrote the following: 'Jude the Obscure' reminds me of candied clementines, honey, vanilla, and even guavas. One rose can intoxicate a whole room with its fragrance. I would like to try shades of it in a dessert wine, but would become drunk from its vapors. 'Jude the Obscure' has deep yellow petals with shades of apricot or pink depending on the weather. The rose is deeply cupped into a form like a large peony or chalice with the top softly folding inward, as if to hold in the perfumed bouquet. There always seem to be several roses on 'Jude the Obscure'. My rose has been planted for three years. It is healthy and disease-free. The rose has attained a height of seven or eight feet. The canes are a little stiff, but they respond well to self-pegging with many lateral canes. The shrub is bushy, and I don't know if it could be grown as a climber. I like the way this rose looks as a full, self-pegged shrub here in my Southern California garden.

A wonderful painting of 'Jude the Obscure' by Diana Lynn:

More information on Diana