Paeony My Pal Rudy
Paeony My Pal Rudy, what a beauty.
take your pick regarding the spelling of this beautiful plant as there seems to be at least three alternatives.
However My pal Rudy is a cracker, Myra planted this one in our back garden some eighteen years ago at least. Not that it was a specimen familiar to her, the purchase was more related to the fact that we had a Burmese cat at the time named Rudi. This Paeony planted in a sunny position settled down nicely after a couple of years. My pal Rudy has pale pink fully double scented flowers and a good shrubby habit that does benefit from a little support. We moved this profuse flowering plant from it’s original position to a spot which we thought would show it off to it’s full glory even better. The result of this action left the plant looking rather sparse for a few years, however it did eventually settle down again and looks great once more.
Do not be put off searching for this Paeony as the conclusion is Paeonys simply do not take kindly to transplanting and they also like a spot where they are not crammed in amongst other plants fighting for survival.
Hardiness – Fully hardy
Flowering – June/July (in the north east)
Position – Full sun
Height – 3ft/9ocm
Mail order
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Another Paeony in our garden is Lactiflora Adolphe Rousseau
This one is situated in our west facing border which gets full sun tempered with dappled shade from a nearby Rowan tree. The fragrant, red double flowers give a good show in mid/late June. This Paeony is fully hardy and should be planted where the soil is free draining yet making sure it doesn’t dry out in Summer.
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Are cats the gardeners worst enemy? There are of course numerous others. Aphids, slugs, vine weavil rust and black spot on your roses, clematis wilt and so many other pests to try our patience.
We have enjoyed gardening for forty years, even had the privilege of being winners in the Aberdeen in bloom competition, and we have always had cats. Any damage done has been so trivial it has been deemed of no consequence. Perhaps they messed up other peoples gardens, I am not sure.
Our first cat Tom Puss came into the family when our daughters were toddlers. He was a big puss, black with a white bib and white paws. Tom was very independent and really preferred to sit on his own, and generally treat the place like a hotel, where he would come and go as he pleased, feed me but don’t annoy me. When he was seven years old his health turned poor,and he started to take nose bleeds. It turned out he had a brain tumour and we had no option but to have him put out of his misery. We were all very upset, but we were now cat people, and within several months we had another kitten.
Toby a ten week old seal point Siamese. Right from the start you could tell he was going to be a proper wee character. He was both affectionate and vicious, he loved to play, and this is when he started his biting, playfully but at times he went over the top. He soon settled down and became a lovely pet. When he was six years old we moved to our present home, after a year sadly Toby was knocked down by a car and killed. We buried him in the garden and the feeling was we could never replace him. Six months later however we got Lindi our Abyssinian friend.
Lindi was five months old when we got her, she had fur the colour of a wild rabbit and huge ears. She was anything but wild, the most timid creature imaginable, a most beautiful cat. Visitors did not even know we had her, for if the doorbell rang she would disappear only to turn up about an hour after the intruder left. However she did became very affectionate after a little time, but only if she had us to herself. Sadly she was also killed on the road, only consolation was she had a very happy if short life. It was too much we could not get another cat.
Well you guessed it, before too long We got Rudi, Faroe, and Casper all Burmese. Rudi we had for an amazing fourteen years, the other two, had much shorter lives. Rudi was an amazing creature a beautiful brown large Burmese boy. Incredibly gentle with claws and teeth like a mountain lion. He would jump up on your lap and gently touch your face with a large paw, so very carefully with retracted claws. He made such a fuss over everyone who came to the house, except for my brother whom Rudi soon discovered had no time for cats. Its perhaps unfair on the rest but I have to confess Rudi was my favourite.
By the time he was fourteen he had kidney disease and bad arthritis. He passed away peacefully in September 2003, so sadly missed, we buried him in his favourite spot in the garden.
We now have Purdee a lilac tortie Burmese. She is now eight years old and totally rules the roost. If she is not demanding to sit on your knee, she is hogging one of the radiators, if the heating is not turned on she lets you know about it. Purdee is very small for a Burmese, I reckon she may have been the runt of the litter. Her claws or clooks as we call them are like little needles and she is not so very fussy about retracting them when she leaps up on you. She shares in my dislike for Myras ornamental grass Carex Buchanii. Myra will fluff up this dubious beauty, probably trying to enhance the appearance.
Purdee watches, and when the preening of said plant is complete, she will pounce upon this thing flattening it completely for having the audacity to share in the same colouring as herself.
Are cats a pest to gardeners? Well you know what we feel.
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February was mild in Aberdeen, day time was often between 10/14c. On Tuesday 28th Feb the temperature rose to its highest in 110 years. A balmy 17c – 63f
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