‘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
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