I spent some time in the backyard this afternoon, removing spent winter flowers and transplanting roses to prepare beds for spring.  It was very sad — I shovel-pruned several rose bushes, including ‘Nancy Reagan’, ‘First Prize’, and ‘Pope John Paul II’ (which had nothing to do with his beautification today!)  These roses don’t seem well suited to the humidity of Florida.  They were some of my favorite roses to photograph, and ‘Nancy’ won me a first place in the American Rose photo contest a few years ago.

As I worked, the baby mockingbird fussed at me (Rich wants to know if there are any baby birds that are more annoying than a baby mockingbird.  I asked him if he remembered the Great Egret chicks at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm!)  The Red-Winged Blackbirds also fussed at me, letting me know in no uncertain terms that I was inconveniencing them by working in the flower bed underneath their bird feeder.  Sometimes these birds seem to forget that I do them a favor by feeding them! :)