Teacher's Tribute

‘You want lots of apples? Then you go out and hit those trees with a baseball bat. You put the fear of God into those trees, and you will be blessed with the holy mother lode of apple crops.’** This was the lesson from a guest lecturer in my final year at university, a beanpole American in cowboy boots and most aptly, a baseball cap.

But why was I reminded of this moment breathed twenty four years ago?

It is because I knew another equally enthusiastic teacher who, until recently, tended the roses in the memorial garden at St Michael & All Angels in Beaumaris. His voracious love for learning, for knowledge about all things rosaceous, and for every interest he followed in life, was awe-inspiring. It was with much sadness then that I learnt of his death from cancer only yesterday.

He had been unwell for some months, undergoing treatment for some kind of lymphoma. Yet despite his illness, his death still seemed sudden. Bruce was always hale and hearty; smile always ready and an opinion, if you wanted that too. He cared passionately for his charges, ensuring a reliable flush of colour every spring and autumn. I saw him only two weeks ago, his grey pallour belying his smile. I cannot help but feel he knew time was getting away, and that he needed to come out and say goodbye; a final flourish before the finale.



Amazing Grace: White hybrid tea rose
bred by Dr Bruce Chapman



**In times of severe stress, or impending demise, many plant species will try to ensure their continued survival by reproducing. A frenzied flurry of blossom ensues, followed by prodigious yields of seed bearing fruit or capsules. Please do not think that such drastic measures to increase flowering and fruit yield ‘only happen in America’. Later, I met a commercial grower of Australian native flowers who had his own tried and trusty method for promoting flowering. He would run over recalcitrant Gymea lilies with the tractor!

TC

In the Dead of Winter

We have all heard the phrase 'in the dead of winter'. It is one brought to us from northern, much colder climes. From those not lucky enough to have beheld the wonder of a winter garden filled with Australian natives, where the sap runs quietly amongst downy greys and flinty greens, a quiet burble of life that defies cold days and short sunlit hours. I know of such a garden and it is in my home in bayside Melbourne. It is a space that speaks of tranquillity and joy and I would like to share it with you.

The brittle mornings have borne a drift of tiny blossoms over the Thryptomene, the sweetly arching stems drawing in droves of native bees.

As well as the winter treasures, there are the 'I want to please you' plants that bring delight from summer, through autumn and into our long winter. One of these is Banksia spinulosa, a low growing form from the south coast of New South Wales.

Banksia spinulosa (left) and Banksia blechnifolia

Another perennial pleaser is Banksia blechnifolia whose shoots creep inexorably outwards, the serrated leaves are tough with needle-like points and the flower cones are deliciously soft and velvety to touch.

Austral Cranesbill and Geraldton Wax

A native geranium, known as Austral Cranesbill, has happily self-seeded and filled in the gaps around the garden's edge and is in all stages of flower - from tightly furled buds to full bloom. The Geraldton Wax is also budding, with bright pink baubles clinging precariously to shoot tips.

So 'the dead of winter', much maligned as a time of darkness and withdrawal, can actually be a time of awakening and hope; or as one wise French Algerian wrote: 'In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.'

TC