Top Garden Cat Blog Posts of 2017

Looking back at 2017, we had a few posts that performed heads and whiskers above the others. There was a virtual tie for third place. Here are the top posts in reverse order:

3B. Sun Time

Constance Ann McAlpin's kitty, DottaOne, made a return appearance on our blog and proved himself a real king of all he surveys.

3A. Tommy Cat

Claudia Hosky contributed a picture of this former street-cat from the United Arab Emirates and many of you fell in love with the little grifter.

2. Fling Felines

The Garden Blogger Fling hosts and attendees were a cat-loving bunch and they made this post of representational cats in gardens the cat's meow.

1. And the Oscar goes to...

Patrick Dolan of One Yard Revolution shared his garden video channel and his ham of a cat, Oscar, stole the show!

What were your favorite Cats in Gardens posts of 2017?


#gardencats

Roasted Fennel

"Sometimes snoozing in the shade of the tomatoes is the best thing to do on an extremely hot summer day."

Sarah O'Neil a garden blogger, and on Twitter @SarahtheGarden, shared these photos of Fennel, her cat. Sarah said, "She is just over a year old and apparently is half British Blue, half Bengal. She is a funny wee thing and loves the water! We take her out on our boat and we had to get her a life jacket, because she can get a little close to the edge. She also loves being in the garden and is never far from me when I'm out there. She does get a little possessive of the weeds and pounces on me when I attempt to pull them out. But all is all she is the perfect gardening companion in my garden here in New Zealand.

Fennel as a garden kitten

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

A new game called Cottage Garden came out this year and I was amused to see the game includes both garden building skills and sleeping cat tokens.

According to this review, "You score by completing flower beds, six-by-six grids each strewn with a random scattering of flower pots and glass planters that must be kept visible as you place flowers and watering cans around them. The pieces are sumptuously watercolored by Andrea Boekhoff, and the art makes it a pleasure to fit everything together. Undoubtedly, though, the best part is using tokens representing sleeping cats to fill in the last few spaces just in case, as often happens, you can’t quite fit any of the shapes. More games—perhaps every single game?—should feature cat tokens."

Santa, you know this is on my Christmas list!

Georgetown Cats

Back in May, I attended the Georgetown Garden Tour and kept camera in hand throughout in hopes of capturing some garden felines on film. While no living kitties crossed my path, I saw these fun cat representations along the way.

and then there was this kitty sleeping in a basement window well 

- won't you come out to play with me I called - to no avail...

Gift Ideas for Garden Cats

Stumped for what to get your outdoor-loving cat for a holiday or birthday gift? Here are 5 suggestions that are sure to make your garden kitty purr-purr-purr.

1.
The catio will make your kitty the envy of the neighborhood and keep him safe and the birds too!

2.
If your kitty loves to chew on every houseplant you have, grow her this alternate -- a safe pot of fresh cat grass all her own to munch on.

3.
This safety collar is a great way to ensure your garden kitty doesn't get into danger and so any prey can her him coming.

4.
This heating pad is the purr-fect thing for that barn cat or any kitty who prefers to sleep in an unheated space.

5.
This sling pet carrier is all the rage now and is worth a try if you have a sociable feline who might like to go on errands to the garden center with you.


Finally, one bonus gift suggestion, for you -- if you have lost one of your garden kitties, this cat-angel is a wonderful way to remember them. I have one placed near the spot that my late Chantilly loved to sun herself by my water garden.