I’ve been working on the roses on and off during the last two weeks. I’m not particularly partial to roses — they strike me as fussy and demanding, and most of the roses I’ve seen outside of blooming season aren’t attractive plants. And beyond that, they fight back when you work on them. But we have forty or fifty roses, so I’m pitching in to see if I can come to terms with them.

Most of the roses are in the rose garden, so I’ve concentrated there. I pruned to the best of my ability and fed them rose food left behind by the previous owners.

Two of the half-dozen roses by the pool have bloomed already, no thanks to my efforts, but the rose in the photo is the first to bloom in the formal rose garden.