“Hey look!” I said to Marilyn a couple of weeks ago. “One of the rose buds has opened.” Yes I had been waiting for the first rose for a while, our bushes had hundreds of buds and finally one of them was open. As the sun made its way higher in the sky and the temperature worked its way into the seventies, several more rose buds opened. It was like in the early evening sky when you first see only one star, then a few minutes later several more. Then a while later you see hundreds of stars. That’s the way the roses were blooming. Only one rose at first, then a few more, then even more. By evening there were dozens of roses open, each one demanding to be looked at, each one at its peak of beauty. Tomorrow there will be dozens more.

That’s one of the best things about gardening, there is always something new tomorrow. One rose fades as the next one takes its place. How many times have you looked at your garden and thought that it has never looked better, then the next day it looks even better. “Let’s take some pictures,” Marilyn said. So we did, we took several pictures of the roses, and they came out quite well. But I’ll bet the pictures we take tomorrow will be even better. We took one more look at the rose garden as the evening was turning to night. As the light dimmed the cherry-red color of the roses became less striking. The birds, which had been singing all day, were settling in for the night, and I saw one bright star shining. Then another star, then hundreds more. Happy gardening to everyone.