I am in a nice toasty zone compared to you but my Jude is a virtual tree now. Mine also came from Heirloom and last spring I had to use a brush saw to remove the oldest canes because they were too thick to use lopers on. Mine has been in the ground for at minimum of eleven years.Hopefully yours will take of this summer.

Jude was a slow grower for me, but now is a monster, so patience is probably going to be necessary for this rose. I assume your Jude gets plenty of water. Have you given it any fertilizer since the manure? You might try some Rose Tone on Jude. I think it's one of the best. My Jude is going into its ninth season and It took about three years for it to really take off. This photo is from last year (I'm still working on this year's photos, but it's slow going because of so much wind). Good luck with your Jude--it's a great rose. Diane

Yes, Jude really is that slow.

Years ago someone posting on the antiques forum called it Jude the Eventual.

Mine took 5 years to be a decent plant, and this was in coastal Southern California. At age--9 or 10 now, he's excellent.

'Jude The Eventual'--ha ha that's a good one!

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

I just put some rosetone and more manure on top of him today.

Now quick question, I know there are topics and topics on Jude as grafted or own root, and I feel like of course along with weather and different climates come different opinions. However - am I wasting my time with this own root from heirloom? I don't mind waiting the 3-4 years for this 2 year old to mature, but I also want it to be amazing by then. Should I just buy the grafted? Have any of you had great success with it own root? I'm just really in a situation where I feel like I should have bought it grafted. My main priority is for it to make a lot of blooms (as I've seen pictures of) and for it to get reasonably large.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Have a great day all.

Drew

I have 'Jude' own root, planted as a gallon-sized plant from Chamblee's in late October 2011. I do not winter protect all all and the plant has now survived two winters with every cane green almost to the tips. Last year the plant was a slow, steady gangly grower and produced about two dozen lovely blooms throughout the season. This spring I pruned it down to shape it up and it is currently 3 feet x 3 feet. It currently has about 40-50 buds but has not yet started to bloom. It is very healthy and I grow all of my roses no spray. I am quite pleased with it right now.

My neighbor down the street grows 'Jude' grafted. I am uncertain of the age, but it is a monster. At least 8 feet tall by 4-5 feet wide by the end of summer.

My soil is alkaline sandy loam.

The Jude I show in the photo is grafted and is currently about 11 feet tall. I have alkaline soil and live in a sunny, arid area with no black spot. Jude is very hardy here. Diane

Ispahan that's great to know, wow 40-50 buds at one point in time? That's exactly what I want. Diane, your jude as I mentioned before, is the reason why I bought it. I love this forum, my roses are doing great so far thanks to all the advice I read on here!

Has anyone tried planting 3 bushes in 18 inches from each other formed in a triangle? I'm thinking about doing that. Any advice? Not necessarily with jude, but any austin planted in a group of three.

Take care,

Drew

I haven't tried growing any Austin in threes, but I can think of at least two which might work this way because of their smallish, compact growth: Tamora, a creamy soft apricot and The Prince with its very dark purple red blooms. I've had each for several years, and they don't seem to want to get huge, which is what I want, given their locations. They both, especially Tamora, have really lovely growth habits. No shooting canes, nothing popping out at odd angles. Diane

Diane! OMG your roses are like my dream come true! I've never seen austin roses growing in my climate so I have no idea if mine will ever get like that but one can only hope wish and dream. If I wish it enough maybe it will happen!