Dying: Ants? And other problems

I am not sure what is wrong here. I can see ants busily at work up and down the stems, and they are going into holes right at the stems. I squished them and hopefully any aphids, but I couldn’t see any aphids like I have before on my roses and other plants.

We have been getting a lot of rain, so I am not sure if it is just too wet for the poor plant. But you can see what it looked like a couple weeks ago, and what it looks like now. I haven’t seen any signs of flowering at all. Anyone know what is going on here? And if I need to do anything?

Thanks much.