I would dig it out and plant Wollerton Old Hall.

Jude likes the hot sun, and does well for me here in Texas. If it is too large for it's slotted space in the garden then there is little you can do to restrain him, but I do know he blooms with constant repeat here with no pruning. I suspect the pruning methods may be responsible for the way he blooms.

Josh

Tie him to a trellis like a climber or plant something else. I didn't have success trying to keep Jude small

If it's too big for your space, trying to prune it to suppress its size is a losing battle. I know we fought this years ago in our garden with Evelyn. (She's probably wonderful, somewhere else.)

Save yourself a lot of grief. Chop it down, dig it up, and plant something more suited to your garden.

Jeri

Yeah, I am a cheapskate but even I would have it out - I let mine thrash about under (and in) one of my cherry trees and have loads of stuff around the bottom because it is a big rose but just cannot produce enough foliage and bloom to cover the fat green canes....and pruning definitely MAKES IT WORSE. My hort. lecturer used quote Fred Loads - 'growth follows the knife' - Jude absolutely illustrates this observation. It is, though, a good background rose to hang a clematis on (Rooiguchi or one of the shorter integrifolias) and might be better on a wall where its lack of voluptuousness is not so apparent. Mine is also supported by several thalictrum which are tall enough to compete in stature and goes a long way towards filling the large (empty) spaces between blooms as well as adding more vitality to slightly....meh quality of Jude ('pallid' always comes to mind).

Mine behaves itself in my garden and is no octopus here, about 5x4 with spring pruning and deadheading. I'd give it time to improve its repeat bloom also. 2 years it's still getting going. I've had mine for a number of years and it was stingy at first but now it repeats throughout summer, in flushes rather than continuously, depending on moisture and other conditions. The fragrance and form is what makes it a favorite of mine.

Mine is reasonably healthy and repeats well, as well as having plenty of foliage...but for whatever reason I just don't like it very much. I want to love it, but I don't. I've considered giving it to my mother.
Between the balling, nodding, shattering, and zero vase life I'm just "over" it.

UPDATE: Some might be horrified by this, but I did indeed remove my jolly green 'Jude the Obscure'. I harvested a bouquet of the last blooms, inhaled the wonderful fragrance deeply and then unceremoniously proceeded to chop the bush down.

I have to say that in spite of 'Jude' being a sentimental favorite for me, I do not miss it in my garden. The thorny, gangly beast is gone. Neighboring companion plants have put on a surge of growth in the past couple of weeks due to increased available sunlight in spite of the current cold temperatures.

I am not sure what I will replace it with yet. Maybe I will just leave that spot bare and let the surrounding companion plants (hardy geraniums and an agastache) fill in and mature.

Thank you all who encouraged me to do this! My problem with 'Jude' has been solved! :-)

This post was edited by ispahan on Thu, Oct 24, 13 at 10:15