Cats in Garden Art part 3: Tabbies Dream

"Tabbies Dream" by Anita Inverarity, a Fine Art Illustrator residing in the North East of Scotland.

To buy this print, go here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/anitainverarity/works/5517384-tabbies-dream?c=10614-cats

Reverie in a Meadow

"Figaro in our meadow garden last summer." Another cat submission from Hunter Ten Broeck, owner of WaterWise Landscapes Incorporated, in Albuquerque, NM.

Tiger Eyes

Another one of the late Taj. (See his other Cats in Gardens photo here.)

In this one, he poses with a Tiger Eyes Sumac (Rhus typhina).

The Elusive Butterfly

From Hunter Ten Broeck, Co-Owner/Operator of WaterWise Landscapes Incorporated in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

This is Taj doing some serious communing with the local flora and fauna. Taj recently passed away -- may he be chasing butterflies in kitty heaven.

Parade Float

 “This kitten, perhaps, is wondering how he is going to get ashore without wetting his feet,” opines the note accompanying a 1935 Alfred T. Palmer photo from the Philippines. “But he is perfectly safe so long as he stays aboard this floating giant of the vegetable world, the ‘Queen Victoria’ (Victoria regia) water lily.”

The tiny cat’s perfect safety wasn’t ever in question. Now more commonly called the giant water lily—reaching eight feet across and staying afloat by means of a substantial amount of air trapped in the spaces between its ribs—the plant is strongest at its center and can hold up to a hundred pounds.
— Johnna Rizzo

From NationalGeographic.com

Photograph by Alfred T. Palmer, National Geographic Image Collection

Leaves or Squirrels?

 Marie Mims Butler, zoo horticulturalist at the Virginia Zoological Park in Norfolk, VA, submitted this photo of her cats (from left-to-right) Mew, Sasha, and Beau. Marie says, "I see beautiful autumn leaves. Kitties see SQUIRREL."

Sparky Smells an Arum

Sparky and the Arum

Alice Nicolson wrote: "Sparky has just smelled the A. dioscoridis... this was in our old garden in Arlington, VA."

Cyrano: Every woman needs a little madness in her life.

Carol Allen said:
"Cyrano enjoys the greenhouse more than I do! He says, '...now, I smell chipmunk. Where did he go?'"

Carol is a self-described plant-a-holic, professional horticulturist and landscape designer. She lives in Germantown, MD, with several cats and lots of orchids.

Greenhouse Greeter

Kylee of "Our Little Acre" fame and garden book author submitted this cute black-and-white garden center kitty.

"Moo Shu was a stray that showed up at Young's Greenhouse in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Young's is the oldest greenhouse in Ft. Wayne -- family-owned sinced 1873!

"Moo Shu lives the good life at the greenhouse and was very friendly during Jenny's and my visit there, when we were gathering plants for our new book, Indoor Plant Decor."


If your garden center, home garden, public garden, or greenhouse has a resident cat or regular cat visitor, please share him/her with us!

Catnip Addiction

Brenda Parent  of the Access to the Garden blog  posted this photo of her cat barred from accessing the catnip plant in her yard due to over-browsing.

Brenda's blog is an awesome page devoted to making every garden, whether private or public, more accessible and usable by all people. The page will appeal to anyone with a disability, anyone getting older, or to anyone who enjoys gardening

Donation Jar

Hi fellow Cat and Garden Lovers -

I have added a "donation jar" to the right-hand column of this blog with the intention of using any funds collected to go towards my Versace's surgery bills (close to $3,000) and to donate a % to our local no-kill animal shelter where I adopted him and his brother, Santino.

Little Versace had an abdominal obstruction removed in April and I pray it does not happen to any of your kitties. It was an awful and stressful diagnosis process, proceedure, and recovery period. Thank God and the good vets that Versace is totally himself again like it never happened.

Here is a photo of him a few days post-surgery:

And here is his surgery scar:

I'll be taking a few days break from this blog as early August seems to be a slow time on the Internet all around as folks enjoy their summer vacations here in the Northern Hemisphere. I'll come back with many new posts in a few weeks.

Break Me Off a Piece of that Cutie-PIe

This is Kit Kat. She is a rescue cat that lives with the Walshs in Frederick, MD along with several other cats. She enjoys napping in the garden. I saw her on the annual Parade of Ponds Tour and she posed for me quite prettily. I just love her coloring.

Whispering Garden Fantasies

 

This photo was submitted by Sally Meitz. She says, "Here are Patrick and Lucy at home in Munith, MI, looking out the window at one of my ancient lilacs."

In Memoriam

Debbie Perry McMurry said: 

"Belle and Sammy checking out in the memory garden. The garden is a tribute to my mom that was killed in her home in the 2011 Joplin, MO tornado. It has been hard, but this garden that my husband and I put together this spring kind of helps. My kiddies are always checking it out every morning for frogs. I got the birdhouse from a Facebook friend that makes them."

Captured in Stone

Some garden cat art is very literal. If you saw this cat statue out of the corner of your eye, you might mistake it for a real cat. It is realistic in scale and form.

Whereas, this statue is not in any way realistic, yet it is immensely popular. I have come across it in garden stores and in home gardens regularly. There is a male "peasant cat" counterpart statue to this female statue should you want a pair for symmetry.

Both of these statues were in the garden of a cat lover in Frederick County, MD.

Cat in a Cottage Window

W Herbert, after Ralph Hedley (British, 1848-1913) Cat in a Cottage Window signed lower right "W Herbert" oil on canvas h:74 w:64 cm Hedley's original painting is in the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Blissful Video Cat

From Youtube - Uploaded by cadranaline on Jun 25, 2010
http://www.cadranaline.com

"Beautiful photo animation of our cat in our garden with mystic pop music by CaDra.
The soundtrack is the song Sam Sam taken from our first double cd "Blissful Chess". It's a mantra with words that don't actualy exist. Kind of what "The Cocteau Twins" were doing."

Tuxedo Stan takes a Stand for Felines

 

 

My name is Kathy Chisholm and my cat is Tuxedo Stanley. The photo (above) was taken in my front yard early in the spring (you can see some Hostas starting to come up in the background.

My website is http://www.kathychisholm.ca/

Tuxedo Stan's blog is at http://www.kathychisholm.ca/blog/

Tuxedo Stan has been blogging on behalf of his mother, author Kathy Chisholm, since August 2011. Initially he intended to bring new visitors to the website in the hopes that they would find out about Kathy's book - Urban Tigers, Tales of a Cat Vet. Since that time Stan has evolved into a local celebrity. He is now the leader of a political party - the Tuxedo Party of Canada (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tuxedo-Party/391884324181841?ref=hl) Stan will be running for mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada in the fall of 2012. He hopes to have a complete slate of cats running for council as well. The Tuxedo Party is a political movement aimed to improve the welfare of felines in HRM "because neglect isn't working." Below a picture of the button that his supporters will be wearing as the election approaches. T-shirts and lawn signs will also be available.

 

 

A Rock and a Soft Place

My name is Jo. This adorable kitten (5 weeks old) does not yet have a 
name, and the picture was taken in a garden in Thionville, France. I 
wish I could adopt him and his two brothers, but it's a bit tricky at 
the moment. Meanwhile, I'm visiting them lots and lots :)

Cats in an Ornamental Garden

Cats in an Ornamental Garden

by David Alan Redpath Michie, R.S.A., R.S.W. (b.1928)

1989
signed 'David Michie' (lower right)
oil on canvas
26 x 40 in. (66 x 101.5 cm.) 

Exhibited at Cheltenham, Fosse Gallery, Scottish Painters, 6-8 February 1989, no.44. 

 

Sold at Christie's for £2,820 ($4,515) in 2003. (Auction estimate was £1,800 - £2,500.)

Saw it posted at http://stilllifequickheart.tumblr.com/ and had to share it.
Love those cats and the chartreuse garden color.

Lazy Summer Day

Lisa Munzer submitted this photo of her cat, Phatso. She said, "He is best at being LAZY!"

Society of Feline Gardeners

There is actually a "Society of Feline Gardeners."

At first, I thought this was for humans, but no, it is a society for felines only. Jonesie, the founding member, writes: "I came up with an idea to start a garden club! I know there are lots of cats who take their gardening seriously...some not so seriously too. There are other cats who like to look out their windows at gardens, and those who just like to dream about them. That's all ok! All are welcome in my club. All you have to do to join is say 'meow! I want to join' and you're in."

Sounds like a simply meow-valous organization!

You can find out more at:
http://corycattalks.blogspot.com/2009/10/thursday-in-garden-with-jonesie_22.html

Tip of the mouse to Anne Hardman for passing on this link to me.

Tango's Story

Diana Wind of http://GardenCuizine.com submitted the following links to a three-part story on Tango the Garden Cat.

Part 1, Tango Arrives

Part 2, Tango's Garden Adventure

Part 3, Home for Christmas

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1824/

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2204/

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2685/


Diana said, "The Tango cat fiction was based on a true story of Tango, a little black cat who just arrived in our Garden along with his furry friends, Zina and Cali. Our suburban yard is a habitat Certified for Wildlife. Wildlife gravitates to the trees, shrubs, ground cover and gardens that provide shelter, food (native berries and seeds) and water sources. We have numerous songbirds, hawks, owls and your typical backyard squirrels and chipmunks. On occasion we've seen deer, wild turkey and groundhogs. And as much as I love cats, I wish we didn't get feral or stray cats in our garden. Cats (Felis catus) as a species are really not wild and deserve better.

   Every township is different, but ours does not do TNR (trap, neuter, release). Sadly they euthanize feral and stray cats that they trap. I suspect they do that with red foxes too. I haven't heard a fox howl since I wrote the Tango story..."

Window Sitters

This is K-Love (top) and Daisy (bottom) both enjoying the window garden of their owner Judy Werber in Huntington, NY. Judy is the Owner and CEO of The Story Lady and Lazy Daisy Creations.

The Green, Green Grass Of Home

Drena R. Galarza took this photo with a camera phone in her Riverdale, MD garden. You can buy note cards of Drena's photos at Pictures by Drena and also see her photography in Washington Gardener Magazine.

Drena said, "This is my handsome king enjoying his outside time :)." His name is Leo and those green eyes are a perfect match for his turf carpet.

A Life Well Lived

Brent Heath and Tux. Photo by Cheval Force Opp

Becky Heath of Brent and Becky's Bulbs said:

The cat's name is 'Tux', short for 'Tuxedo' because of his markings.  He was a kitten that was evidently dropped near my parent's house LONG ago.  Tux would hide under their deck and my Mom would drop small pieces of dry cat food between the cracks in the deck to coax him out.  Finally, she won his heart - so for a long time, Tux was Mom's cat.  Then quite suddenly and unexpectedly, my Mom died in 2003.  My Dad, who was the main cook and caretaker was devastated.  And although he was never too fond of cats, managed to begin to care for Tux and they bonded.  About 6 months after my Mom died, we convinced my Dad to come to our house for a visit just for a couple of weeks (he wasn't expected to live more than a few weeks...asbestosis and coronary heart disease).  Of course my Dad asked, 'Can I bring my cat with me'?  He did and they both lived with us and slept together for 3 1/2 years.  My Dad died first and 'Tux' really mourned the loss of both his caretakers.  Although Tux was well over 15 years old, he began to run around like a young cat again.  He live another year after Daddy died.  He was well loved, cared for, was a great hunter and lived a long, healthy life.

This photo was taken at Brent and Becky's Bulbs by Cheval Force Opp on a garden tour during a Garden Writers Association regional meeting.

Potted Cat 3

Drena R. Galarza took this photo with a camera phone in her Riverdale, MD garden. You can buy note cards of Drena's photos at Pictures by Drena and also see her photography in Washington Gardener Magazine.

Drena said. "I wised up this year and put the catnip in a pot so the neighborhood cats couldn't roll around in it. SMH."

Meditation on the Rake

Sharee Solow submitted this entry from her Japanese-styled Back Garden, Elkins Park, PA

 

 

 

After spending three weeks in Japan completing certification in Japanese garden history, design, installation and maintenance I decided to remove the ground cover plants from this area by my pond and install a stone rake area with the traditional 3 deity stones. KK loves to just lay on the raked stone, sometimes with his head on the lowest Buddisatra, and does not ever dig in it. I wonder if there's some kind of deeper meaning there?

 

Got everything watered again (sorry bout the muddy foot) and attempted to rake my stones but I don't don't know what the Japanese do about the Kitty Kat (aka KK) during this meditation.

 

About the photographer:

Sharee Solow, ASLA, PCH

www.SLSolowHorticulturalDesigns.com

Snake Charmer

This is Lilly. She is part Maine Coon and about 4 years old. We picked her up at the Fairfax Animal Shelter after out last cat, Rascal, passed away (He was 15) last September. She is finally warming up. Funny thing is she follows us around all over the house and yard, loves to play, but hates to be picked up. We’ve seen big improvements and she is just as cute as she can be. In this photo she is eyeing a big black snake that was perched on top of an Autumn Joy plant. Fortunately, she was smart enough to know to keep away.

Owners: Mike, Cindy and Sarah Whalen

Kitty Name: Lilly

Taken: In our yard in Fairfax Station, VA, lounging under the decorative grasses in the bed next to the garage.

Killer in the Garden

This is Killer, Susan Hamilton's cat. They live in Middleton, OH. Susan says, "Killer is always near by when we are working in the garden. Sometimes she's a willing subject.... and sometimes she gets a little 'testy' about the camera shoved in her face."


Susan and her husband run Redbud Hill, a small-scale daylily hybridizing venture.


Susan's "winter passion" is crafting, and I make fabric [mostly fleece and felt] toys and beds for dogs, cats, and occasionally novelty items for children and adults. My work can be seen on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/justsue,

Rain in the Garden

This is Rain, a beautiful Maine Coon, owned by Phil Normandy of Kensington, MD. Like many of her breed, Rain loves to play with water and is also a real people cat. Here she is welcoming garden tour visitors and showing off Phil's latest plant acquisitions.

Getting Squirrely

John Boggan of Washington, DC, says: "Butler is a sweet cat but pretty much useless at keeping the rodents out of the garden. The one time we saw him try to chase one, it turned around and went after HIM. He didn't go after any squirrels after that."

Bathing Beauty

From Kylee Baumle at "Our Little Acre" (http://www.ourlittleacre.com/) blog:

"Bandit is a feral cat that started showing up here last year, sneaking in to eat from our kitties' food dishes whenever he could. Once he got his fill, he took off for the safety of the trees and growth around the creek that runs behind our house. Lately, he's been getting a little more brave and no longer runs away when we walk outside the door. We still can't get close to him, but last week, we found him taking a nap in the bird bath on the patio. Obviously, he considers this his home away from wherever his real home is."

Cat-Napping

Janet Campbell of Lifestyle Photography (www.LSphotography.com) in Minneapolis, MN, submitted this napping cat photo. She says, " I have been selling it in my photo greeting card line for 9 years.  It’s actually my best selling card."

Potted Cat 2

Racquel Stair of Newport News, Virginia, blogs at http://perennialgardener.wordpress.com/.

She submitted this charmer and wrote, "My cat Mooch loves to lay in my potted plants.  Here he is taking a nap.  Looks pretty comfortable huh? lol"

Butterfly Patrol

Another kitty submission from Barbara Hill, Pleasant Hill, CA.
Here “Chica” prowls among the irises for butterflies to chase.

Regal Kitty in the Spring Sunshine

This kitty submitted by Barbara Hill, Pleasant Hill, CA is “Seamus.” She says he is adopting a regal stance which belies the fact that he’s really a goofy klutz.

How to Submit YOUR Cats in Gardens

Being enchanted by both cats and gardens, I decided to start this blog for fun to combine the beauty of both. I know that many of you share my interest in and I hope you will submit your own images of your cats in your gardens.

Here is how to submit your image:
- Email to KathyJentz (at) gmail (dot) com
- Put "Cats in Gardens" in the subject line
- Attach your image
- In the body of the email include:
  ~ your name or you can choose to be "anonymous"
  ~ the cat's name
  ~ where the photo was taken (city, state, country)
  ~ if you have a blog or web site you would like to be linked back to
  ~ a note about the cat or your garden or both, we love to hear your stories

Saint Getrude's Day

Thank you to the Crazy Cat Ladies Community on Facebook for letting my know about Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, who is the patron saint of Cats AND Gardening. No lie! I'm Catholic, adore boths cats and gardening, and had never heard of her. Today, the 17th of March, is her Saint's Day, which she shares with St. Patrick. "Fine weather on her feast day meant it was time to begin spring planting." This may also explain why St. Patrick's Day is the traditional day for early spring crop sowing.

Sleeping Cat

A red cat in Villa Torlonia, Rome.
Photo by Andrea 93

Potted Cat

This is Emmy from Germany.

Source: Mattes, wikipedia commons.

We cannot wait for spring!

Versace (left) and Santino (right) in my kitchen on a blustery winter day, both longing to get out in the garden.

Sedum Cat

This cat is made up entirely of sedums/succulents. Isn't this the coolest idea? I took this photo a few years ago at a Fashion in Bloom event hosted at Homestead Gardens in Maryland. He would fit into any garden and lends a wonderful touch of whimsy.

Good Kitty!

This was the proudest moment of my late Chantilly's life. It was her first and only capture of a garden rodent. She waited by a small hole underneath my bird feeder -- staring at it for hours every day over several months. Her patience finally paid off one day and she was so pleased to show me her triumph.

Mini Garden Cats

These adorable miniature garden cats are from WholeSaleFairyGardens.com.

Cat Grass

Sharee Solow, a garden designer, writer, speaker, and landscape architect, submitted this photo of KK.

"This is in my Elkins Park, PA backyard garden. KK decided that this grass from Hoffman Nursery which I was trying to grow as a sample would always remain a dwarf."

You may recognize KK from an earlier appearance on this blog: http://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2011/11/watch-out-for-that-tale.html.