Rosa 'Mrs Oakley Fisher'

Rosa 'Mrs Oakley Fisher'

2015

21 x 29.7cm

Watercolour on Fabriano Artistico extra white cotton rag 300gsm

Private collection

This airy, soft single hybrid tea rose developed in 1921 was painted for a friend who grew it in her garden in West Sussex.

The shrub is of a loose and graceful habit. It is a beautiful, soft shade of apricot, with modest pink thorns coming off a coppery-brown stem.

There are deep pink hues throughout the leaves, sepals and stems, but the blooms, once fully open, soften to an almost-not-there shade. Buds start off beautifully deep-hued, with tendril-like sepals extending well beyond the petals.

This is a rose which moves through a range of hues from one day to the next as it blooms then fades. A challenge for an artist to capture, but a lovely rose to have in the garden.