Who doesn’t enjoy flowers?

I spent the better part of the day potting up bare root roses and a few other things.

This is new to me, potting roses in early March.

The temperature is an agreeable 30 degrees, but the heavy fog makes the day rather damp and clammy and my “workshop” – the unheated garage – not a particularly pleasant place to be.

I had to scramble for an assortment of pots of mismatched sizes and shapes from every corner of the dusty garage.

The frigid water from the outdoor spigot burned my hands. I hurried through the pot washing, anxious to rip open the bag of Perfect Mix.

There is something about soil that I cannot explain. The feel of it on bare hands makes me very happy. And to be working in March with fine soil, this is a process to be savored, despite the chill in the air and my beet-red hands.

While the roses soaked in room-temperature water, I reread the labels.

The royalty of today’s show is aptly named “Crown Princess Margareta,” a David Austin English rose that promises “large, deep apricot blossoms,” with “glorious, perfumed display.”

Its large blooms boast 120 petals and a strong, tea rose fragrance. I can smell it already just by looking at the picture.

I have had very good success with David Austin roses. The Crown Princess Margareta was introduced in 1999. Ever since I first saw it I have wanted one. At the end of last summer, I saw one at the store. But the plant looked very sickly. I wasn’t sure how it would fare the winter. So I decided to bide my time.

My patience paid off. However, the real payoff is still a long way off. With so much anticipation on my part, I almost worry if it will live up to my expectation. Maybe it will be a finicky princess after all.

The other star of the show is “Moondance.” A brand new kid on the block with a great pedigree, Jackson and Perkins boasts in its catalog that Moondance is “even more vigorously blooming and fragrant than its famous parent, Iceberg. More beautiful, too.” It’s a claim I am anxious to test.

The vigor of Iceberg is a formidable virtue. But Moondance looks truly beautiful in the picture, pure white on the outer petals, with an almost creamy center. Shy but sensual. It will be a sensation in a mixed border, a real eye catcher. I can’t wait to plant tall blue delphinium next to it.

Along with the roses, I also potted seven daylilies.

Gentle Shepherd. What a tenderly beautiful name for a plant. I have never seen white daylilies before. But Gentle Shepherd is pure white. Like an angel with a pale yellow throat. Ruffled edges are accented by yellow stamen; clearly defined veins give great texture to the petals.

I can feel it in my hand. The velvety petals soothe the sting from the cold water. Gentle Shepherd. I hope it lives up to its marvelous name and the beautiful image it conjures.

As I was potting these things up, it dawned on me that I have never seen a flower I do not like.

And to pot them now is my attempt to ensure a better future, like a mother playing Mozart to her unborn child.