David Austin's Jude the Obscure ~ I had longed to try this rose in my garden for a year or two before I was able to realize my dream. Everything I saw and read described such beauty such fragrance!
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| Jude the Obscure ~ A Peachy Bud |
Not being near any rose gardens besides my own, (the closest towns with lovely rose gardens being over 100 miles away in any direction), I had to wait to grow him myself. I am certainly NOT disappointed in the flowers and fragrance of Jude the Obscure, but, I think I may know now why he is called "Obscure".
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| Unselfconscious About Being Fabulous ~ Jude the Obscure |
Perhaps he was named for Jude Fawley, the hero of the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, though, personally, I would not have associated that person with this lovely, delicate, fragrant rose.
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| Jude the Obscure ~ Romantically Alluring in the Evening Light |
I am thinking, rather, now that I am acquainted with my very own Jude the Obscure on a more personal level, that his name has something to do with the dearth of blossoms that this stingy rose produces.
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| Jude the Obscure ~ Upstaging the Petunias |
Certainly, he seems preoccupied with something other than producing roses. I never get more than a few rare blossoms each season. Perhaps my one poor little bush is mentally wandering through the Halls of Christminster, wishing for a more academic distinction than birth or breeding would seem to indicate. Perhaps he is simply afraid of having children, due to the unhappy outcome of his namesake in that area.
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| Oh! The Fragrance of Jude the Obscure! |
For whatever reason he is named Jude the Obscure, it does, unfortunately, seem rather fitting. I am hoping, though, that as his 4th season in my garden approaches, he will have matured enough to realize that achieving his full potential as a beautiful and productive rose bush will be his happiest destiny. |
(You May Click to Enlarge the Above photos)
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