1134. A prickly pruning

Good evening. I’m Shelagh Littenberg, and welcome to Time in the Garden – your weekly foray into the foliage.

Today we’re visiting the fabulous rose gardens of Sir Julius Barton-Klap. Sir Julius has been at the forefront of developing new rose varieties for over thirty years. He has thousands of rose bushes. There would hardly be a rose variety in existence that’s not to be found in Sir Julius Barton-Klap’s all-encompassing garden.

We have so many questions to ask the expert, but today especially we’re going to learn how to prune roses correctly. With so many roses, there can be little doubt that there’s a right and a wrong way, and Sir Julius will put us all on the proper track. Good evening, Sir Julius.

Good evening, Shelagh.

With so many roses, how to you manage to prune them all? And what is the correct way to do it?

Actually, Shelagh, I use the electric hedge clippers. Just shear them down a bit. My wife uses the weed-eater on the bramble bushes. They don’t seem to mind getting cut to the ground. In fact, they like it. It’s a family affair. For some of the more rampant climbers one of my sons gets stuck in with the chain saw. The other son uses a machete; he likes to get a bit of a sweat-up. With so many roses, it’s the only way and they seem to be able to take a thrashing.

But isn’t there a correct way to do it? I was told to always cut on an angle just below where it would bud; and to always have the bud’s position so that it grew out from the rose and not inwards.

Well I suppose if you’ve got one or two plants you could do that, but really just hacking away with the secateurs will do the trick; any old how.

Thank you. Next week we were down to learn how Sir Julius fertilized his roses, but I think we’ll give it a miss and visit the Brassica Nursery to learn the correct and humane way to stop caterpillars from eating your carefully-tended cabbages. That’s something that concerns us all. Good evening.

1001. Cabbage seeds

(The last story is almost the same as the first. This story perhaps explains why these 1001 tales are called “Cabbages Seeds”.)

I’ve stopped gathering for a minute. I thought I’d tell you how an Angel showed me a field and gave me a spade and a sack of cabbage seed.

“Dig the field and sow the seeds,” the Angel said. “When the cabbages are ready, God will take you away.”

I began to dig and in my joy there seemed no night. Sometimes I looked towards the trees near the fence. I think there were further fields afield.

And now the seeds were planted. They sprouted and I knew every leaf. Not a weed survived! Sometimes I’d chase a butterfly. It was like a game, like a children’s game. Maybe the butterfly was God in disguise coming for a look.

Months passed and hearts began to form. Soon God would come. I’d been asked to grow these cabbages for heaven! It was a joke and I was jester.

Then I knew. They were ready for harvest. God would take me away for it was the time of the Angel’s promise.

But there’s no telling with cabbages as to the moment of ripeness. It could be now, but then again, it could be in a while.

I waited.

God did not come to get me. The cabbage hearts broke open and the stalks grew into a field of yellow flowers. I have gathered the seeds into an old sack.

(That completes this series of 1001 stories, 101 music compositions, and 35 poems. The “collection” has been moved to the website at Stagebarn. Thank you for walking all or part of this journey with me.)

Listen the story being read HERE!

1. Cabbage seeds

I’ve stopped gathering for a minute. I thought I’d tell you how an Angel showed me a field and gave me a spade and a sack of cabbage seed.

“Dig the field and sow the seeds,” the Angel said. “When the cabbages are ready, God will take you away.”

I began to dig and in my joy there seemed no night. Sometimes I looked towards the trees near the fence. I think there were further fields afield.

And now the seeds were planted. They sprouted and I knew every leaf. Not a weed survived! Sometimes I’d chase a butterfly. It was like a game, like a children’s game. Maybe the butterfly was God in disguise coming for a look.

Months passed and hearts began to form. Soon God would come. I’d been asked to grow these cabbages for heaven! It was a joke and I was jester.

Then I knew. They were ready for harvest. God would take me away for it was the time of the Angel’s promise.

But there’s no telling with cabbages as to the moment of ripeness. It could be now, but then again, it could be in a while.

I waited.

God did not come to get me. The cabbage hearts broke open and the stalks grew into a field of yellow flowers. I shall gather the seeds into an old sack.