A couple of hours later, as I was making my twice-monthly rounds with my sprayer full of fungicide, I passed this spot and saw that the bud had opened ... and it was being visited by one of the honey bees from next door at Hartwood Winery.
Later in the day, I passed this spot again and found this scene.
You wouldn't know it from the concentration of Japanese Beetles on that poor flower, but it seems that I may have fewer beetles this year than I did last year. There are only certain rose bushes that are getting decimated, while many others are relatively untouched. It's still pretty awful, and I imagine that it will probably continue to be that way for the rest of July, if prior years are any indication.
