Dweezal Mc Sqeezal also known as Little Man…
Posted on | August 4, 2011 | 13 Comments
Dweezal Mc Sqeezal also known as Man
Unfortunately my daily walk around the garden was a rather sad occasion this morning as Dweezal one of my Devon Rex cats was unfortunately run over last week, so as you can probably imagine I am rather bereft to say the least as he used to follow me everywhere. The dear little fellow was only two years old. I know it’s unwise to have a favourite cat, but he was. His brother Genghis is still very much alive and kicking, so he walked me around the garden examining every flower, so I am writing this with a rather heavy heart. Genghis has been missing his brother as he has been trying to get through my bedroom window in the early hours of the morning for some company – of course I let him in – he is sitting beside me right now…
Luckily the sun is out today and the temperature is on the warm side which is really good news after a month or so of leaden skies. We all deserve some good weather to enjoy the rest of the summer in our gardens. A friend of mine visited this morning and was amazed at how much the garden had grown in just one week, with so many plants coming into flower at the moment. A perennial favourite here at the Exotic Garden is the giant thistle Cynara cardunculus more commonly known as Cardoon from the Mediterranean area. Despite the warmer latitudes it hails from this vigorous and robust plant is amazingly hardy. At this time of year it becomes a statuesque clump-forming plant easily growing to 2mtrs or more tall with enormous and very thick architectural greyish silver-green arching leaves up to 1m long. The pinnacle of its glory though has to be the myriads of thistle-like, purple blooms held well above the foliage. At this time of year the blooms are covered with buzzing bees which is an excellent site to behold as bees are in decline, but luckily not here! When in full leaf and flower this garden monster does have a tendency to flop and fall over as half of mine did last week, hence a sturdy support is absolutely essential to keep this beauty upright.
Cynara cardunculus
Close to this is a large group of Rudbeckia ‘Prairie Sun’, a delightful and exceedingly loud short lived perennial, often grown as an annual. I love this plant as a grouping of seven or more makes a very prominent splash of colour in the garden on countless 2½ foot tall stems. The petals on the large 5ins wide daisy-like flowers are intense golden-yellow at the base with lighter yellow tips which really do glow like the sun especially in the evening as twilight approaches, where they appear to become even brighter!
Rudbeckia ‘Prairie Sun’
The whole group is over looked by a large clump of rich blue Agapanthus I bought from Beth Chatto gardens about 15 years ago and is now a fine specimen with dozens of 4ft stems topped with rich blue flowers making a perfect foil to the bright yellow Rudbeckias. Unfortunately I lost the plant label years ago hence I do not have the name for this beautiful Agapanthus.
I have gone mad with Dahlias this year as they are such spectacular flowering plants that bloom profusely from high summer right through to first frost providing they are dead headed regularly. Like the Cardoon, it is absolutely essential to have them well staked, as the stems are so brittle that they are virtually impossible to stand up again once they have fall over. One of the first large flowered ones to come into flower here was Dahlia ‘Wittemann’s Best’, a semi-cactus type, with well-formed flowers of intensely vibrant red from 6-8ins across which stand out well above the bright green foliage. Staking has to be very solid for this one as it grows from 5-6ft tall.
Next to this I have Dahlia ‘Thomas Edison’, a decorative type noted for its stunning, very dark violet flowers that can be 8ins or more across, on 4ft stems.
On a more diminutive scale though none-the-less beautiful is Dahlia ‘Princesse Gracia’, a dwarf decorative dahlia, growing to about 2ft tall with blooms of softest peach, turning to yellow at the centre.
All my Cannas have been rather slow into growth this season, presumably because many of the nights over recent weeks have been a little too cold for them, though they are now starting to catch up. The first to come into bloom for me is an old favourite that can be rather difficult to find named Canna ‘Cleopatra’. This very desirable Canna has foliage that can be all green, all dark purple or a mixture of both. Likewise the flowers are equally interesting either being all red, all yellow with spots or a mixture of both. When this happens in a plant, it is referred to as a Chimera (consisting of at least two genetically different kinds of tissue as a result of mutation) It grows to around 5-6ft tall and is just coming into bloom.
Most visitors to the garden prefer the dark leaved varieties such as C. ‘General Eisenhower’ which is also just coming into bloom here at the Exotic Garden. I have to agree – the dark leaved forms really do stand out and ‘General Eisenhower’ is no exception as it is a tall and rather imposing dark leaved canna, growing from 4-6ft tall with big showy bright red flowers.
If you like purple then Canna ‘Australia’ is a must, a variety that is generally considered to have the darkest foliage of any canna available. This highly desirable form is tall and slender with very shiny lance-shaped leaves in a shade of rich bronzy-purple. The whole plant is topped with large orangey-red flowers from August to first frost.
Up until two winters ago I had overwintered most of my Cannas outside, but after loosing most of them I had to start build up fresh stock again last year. In late October into November, around about the time when the leaves are blacked buy the first frosts of the year, they will all be dug up and cut down to about 6ins or so above the tubers, then placed in large slated trays and surrounded by chipped bark. The trays are kept frost free over the winter months, checking them every month or so for any mould that might be forming which must be removed immediately to stop it spreading to the other tubers. Canna ‘Australia’ is the only one that I actually keep growing during the winter months as it is very difficult to bring back to life once dried out – this also gives me the added bonus of having it flower on Christmas day! From every single plant bought this summer you should be able to get about 3-5 new divisions next spring.
PLEASE NOTE - Thorpe Road outside the garden entrance at Alan Boswell Insurance at 126 Thorpe Rd is being resurfaced on Sunday 7th and 14th of August, but the council have advised me that visitors will still be able to gain access during the gardens opening times of 1-5pm via Cedar Road and that diversions will be put up accordingly, hence the garden will be open as normal, though you will need a little more patience in getting there!
My Little Man...
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13 Responses to “Dweezal Mc Sqeezal also known as Little Man…”
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August 4th, 2011 @ 7:08 pm
My thoughts are with you at this difficult time, cats are independant creatures and tend to live alongside you, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
August 4th, 2011 @ 7:23 pm
So sad to hear that Dweezal has gone. I lost one of my cats a couple of months ago and he used to follow me around the garden. It is so odd not having him around any more.
Your flowers are looking stunning – wonderful colour.
August 4th, 2011 @ 9:38 pm
Sorry to hear about Dweezal. I have a great photo of him sitting on the compost helping us pot up all the Cannas. It will be odd when we come up to visit and not see him around. He was a very cool cat.
The Cannas that you so kindly let me take back to Birmingham are starting to flower, ‘Cleopatra’ was such a surprise. It has lower yellow flowers and the rest are red. You never know what your going to get.
Looking forward to seeing you and the garden at the end of August.
August 4th, 2011 @ 9:49 pm
Oh, Will, I am so sorry! I loved seeing your pictures of Dweezal – he was so obviously a cat of huge personality. Having lost my own cat earlier this year, I know just how heart-wrenching it is to come to terms with the loss of a pet.
Fabulous flowers – hope they manage to cheer you up a bit.
August 4th, 2011 @ 11:20 pm
Wonderful photos Will. Especially the Giant Thistle and dreamlike Agapanthus. Big respect to Dweezal.
August 4th, 2011 @ 11:49 pm
Dweezal was a wonderful friend and companion. It’s good that Genghis is there for you right now.
I love that last photograph of Dweezal, so sweet.
Amazing photos of your garden!
August 5th, 2011 @ 5:27 am
Oh, no! He was such a big presence in a small Yoda package and knew how to smile for the camera. Mr. Show Biz. But what a life he had – not every cat gets to live in a garden paradise. My Minnie was with me for 19 years. It’s very hard to say goodbye to a beloved kitty.
August 5th, 2011 @ 8:42 pm
So sorry Will.
August 8th, 2011 @ 5:02 am
Oh, Wilsers! Not Dweezal – we are bereft. I know how much you love your kitties and Coco and I send our love and hugs to you.
We have been rescuing feral kittens! On Lemon Street I began to feed a scrawny and very ugly little cat and then she became an ugly pregnant cat who climbed into one of the terra cotta jars near the bedroom door (planted with a phormium tenax) and had 6 kittens. I found out when I watered them by mistake. They survived. This was the end of April and we put the house on the market the end of May and sold it right away and we bought another house and moved mid-July (new address: 1242 Hoover Street, Menlo Park 94025) but the new owner didn’t want cats on her property. We thought they’d have to be put down. We got Have-a-Heart traps from the Humane Society and caught 3 kittens right away. Coco’s daughter and our granddaughter came over and we took them to the Humane Society to be adopted but, apparently, you can’t socialize feral cats and they would have to be euthanized. We all burst into tears and sobbed right there in the receiving area. Coco’s daughter said she’d take them at her house in Sacramento if we’d spay/neuter them and that’s what we did. We still had 3 more to trap. We got 2 more right away, but no time to spay/neuter and just drove them all to Sacramento (150 miles away). Then, last week we caught the last one, had her spayed, and I drove her over — they were all united in her garden! Hooray. Still have the mama to go but we’re on that this week. Our love to you, Will, and we’re so sorry about Dweezal and send you our heartfelt love. xoxoBaker
August 9th, 2011 @ 12:15 am
I know just how you are feeling at the moment without your wonderful companion Dweezal.
Gardens and cats are so good together but feel sure he is there in spirit as its such a special place. Looking forward to my visit this wed pm – will arrive at 3pm if thats ok?
August 15th, 2011 @ 4:24 pm
Sorry to you all for not replying sooner to all your comments – the demise of Dweezal put me off doing pretty much everything for a while, such was my love for the dear wee chap.
Thanks for your warm comments Libby and Alison – losing a cat is really heartbreaking.
Hi Adrienne – He did spend a lot of time with us when we were potting up – he was always into everything and that’s what I miss.
Canna’ Cleopatra’ is a fabulous and a canna that’s not often seen for some reason!
It will be good to see you again at the end of this month – I think you will be amazed at how much it has changed since the bare bones of the spring!
Victoria – I will really miss adding pics of Dweezal to my blogs as he usually helped me write them or was sitting on my shoulder. I have had many cats over the years and still have two, but his wonderful character shone out amongst all the others and I miss him terribly – it still brings a lump to my throat thinking about him as I still keep thinking he will come bounding in. I know how much you missed your cat – time does heal, but very slowly. If you fancy an afternoon up in Norfolk, I would love to show you around the garden – I’m sure you would like it, even with only two cats!
Thanks Somatic Waves – indeed – big respect to Dweezal McSqeezal…
Sue – Dweezal was certainly one of the best. I think Genghis missed him for the first week or so though he now seems fine if not a bit more clingy than usual. He certainly has continued the tradition of following me around the garden and when we have open days both Genghis and Tink, my Havana like to greet people at the gate as they arrive…
Thanks – Kim
Hallow dear Baker and Coco – thank you for your love and hugs – very much appreciated. Boy – you have had a run around with all your feral cats – It must feel really good knowing that they are all reunited after all you work catching them and driving them to Sacramento – total respect! I did try and phone you a few days ago, but not sure if your old Lemon St number is now redundant? Hopefully I will get to speak to you both real soon – XX
Debbie – Thanks for the Dweezal comments. One of the Videos on your site has Dweezal walking all over me. Glad you enjoyed your visit to the garden last week – it’s always good to catch up, see you again in the not too distant future…
August 16th, 2011 @ 12:04 am
I came across this site in my search for iresine herbstii but was enthralled by your garden and even more so by Dweezal. He is a beautiful boy. Such personality! You can see it even in the pics!! My heart is aching for you on your loss. Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your garden and your love of felines. Dweezal will surely be missed but never ever forgotten.
October 25th, 2011 @ 4:36 pm
I’m so sorry for your loss, and how long it took me to find out. I remember him well as i photographed him while there.
My dear pet for 15 yrs, Ivy, … left me last December. … and only now am I looking for another.
Can’t wait for your visit, I want to tag along.