A couple of weeks ago, I left for a 10-day jaunt to Oregon with the garden full of buds for its third bloom cycle. On my return, lucky me, blooming had just begun. 

Mrs. Oakley Fisher was looking so gorgeous, I cut most of her open blooms. Here she is on the kitchen counter with Paul Bocuse and Belle Story.

This shot is from the sparse side of the bucket.

Mrs. Oakley Fisher is a Hybrid Tea with graceful, elegant buds. Here's a diagram of sorts showing all her pretty parts.

I've always wanted to know who Mrs. Fisher was. On helpmefind, Patricia Routley posted an engraving of the woman and few words saying she was one of the first elected "lady" members of The National Rose Society Counsel, January 1921, in the UK.

 Bees adore her generous stamens.

In my garden, Mrs. Oakley Fisher is almost 6-feet high. She's pretty much disease resistant. The matching climber in the background is Crepescule.

Coming home to such beauty and the promise of so much more gave me a sense of profound gratitude. It was joyful to see my garden and its bounty with fresh eyes.

Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.

~Lionel Hampton