Return of roses

It has been so many years since we've seen a rose in bloom that it'll take research to learn what this one is. For years, pests have denuded the rosebushes of leaves early in the season and we've seen no flowers at all. Our most reliable bloomer, a single, orange-red mystery that never failed and that we named Safety Vest or DayGlo because it its lurid hue, was whacked off by a large and at-large dog. But this year we have our beautiful mystery, covered with flowers and with many, many buds yet to open. The leaves are small and tinged with red when they're new. The plant is taller than I am. The flowers are a dark, dark blue-red, not single, but with perhaps just a double row of petals. The stamen and all the the center are a strong golden color. How could flowers as large as these emerge from buds so small as those? The scent is heavenly, just exactly how a rose should smell, not oppressively heavy, but still good and strong, and both sweet and spicy and completely like a rose. It's reappearance alone makes this a wonderful spring, as though it hasn't been one all along so far. We found more sweet peas. We've seen our first blue dayflowers (small tredescantia). We even found one mystery jonquil or narcissus today, a straggler for sure, with a creamy perianth and a lemon-yellow doubled and broken trumpet (doubles are not favorites, but it was a treat to find this one). We've seen potato blossoms and chile blossoms. Bush beans are germinating. The air is fresh and this is a wonderful day to be working outdoors. Clematis petals went with the wind, but ranunculus and anemone petals did not. We found St. Joseph's lilies open, another surprise, and they withstood the winds, too. We have old holiday amaryllises in pots that show buds, so we look forward to them, too. Some lantana hasn't yet leafed out; some is covered with flowers. The last of the loquats are on the ground. I did some weeding of loquat and mimosa seedlings today while I was picking up, but not nearly enough as is (and will be) required.