Top Garden Cats of 2019

Looking back at 2019, we had many wonderful garden cat shares. Here is the top 5 ranked by highest number of page views (in backwards order).

5. The Orange and The Gray
https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2019/02/ginkgo.html
Ginkgo Gardens, an independent garden center in Washington, DC, shared this friendly two-some.

4. Best Friends in the Azaleas
https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2019/04/best-friends-in-azaleas.html
What could be sweeter than two kitties sun-bathing ynder the azaleas? Thanks to Freelance writer, photographer, and editor R.S. Williams of LaGrange, GA, for sharing them.

3. Hachi: A Cat's Tale
https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2019/06/hachi-cats-tale.html
I took this photo myself of a blue-eyed beauty in a garden club friend's garden.

2. Not-So-Bitter Rue
https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2019/07/not-so-bitter-rue.html
Rue is another local, independent garden center cat near me. She was shared by Tim Williams, manager of Greenstreet Gardens of Virginia.

1.  Maximum Cuteness
https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2019/08/maximum-cuteness.html
I knew the second I lay eyes on this photo by Nick Adam Lawes of a cat named Max that is was a winner. Little did I know that all the photos of Max that Nick shared were equally as stunning!

Do you agree with the popular vote? What were your favorites this year?

Philbrook's Garden Cats

(Perilla, the garden cat. Photo: Philbrook Museum of Art)

The Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has three resident garden cats that are so popular they have their own page on the museum's website: https://philbrook.org/visit/philbrook-gardens/garden-cats/. They are Acer, Perilla, and Cleome.

This kitties get tons of press coverage (like this article in Tulsa World) and on social media. With 23 acres of grounds to patrol and views like this, you know these are some of the happiest garden cats around!

There is even a book about Acer. It is titled, "The Cat Who Got Framed." See https://shop.philbrook.org/products/the-cat-who-got-framed-by-katie-turner.

A Garden Cat's Holiday Wish List: Gifts for Outdoor-loving 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 has jingly bell so that any prey can hear them 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.

If YOU are a gardener or know one, here is a list of great gift ideas for them (and yourself!):
https://www.amazon.com/shop/wdcgardener?isVisitor=true&listId=1FGUAAL7YJLH9


Disclosure: Clicking on these links and then ordering anything from Amazon may put a few pennies in the Cats in Gardens blog bank account. Thank you for anything you can direct our way.   We are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Passing of the Oak City Kitty

Photo from the Raleigh News & Observer

We are saddened to have to share the news of the passing of Tucker, the Oak City Kitty. He was an Instagram star and known an Honorary First Pet of North Carolina.

If you scroll back through his Instagram feed, you'll see that Tucker was a pleasantly plump and out-going senior cat, who often went on supervised excursions to mix with the people of Raleigh, NC. 

Like many older cats, he was a bit grumpy and set in his ways, but nonetheless a lovable fixture in the community. 

High on Life

I came across this photo on TheMindCircle.com, where they noted the fashionable bird cage, cat, and cannabis plants in this young Parisian woman's garden. The photo is dated 1910.

Gazing at this photo, one wonders who might have been benefiting from the use of this medicinal plant - the feline, the female, or the feathered creatures?

Peatie the Cat

Peatie the Cat went missing from his home at Gale's Garden Center in Westlake, Ohio, and was thankfully found and returned six months later thanks to his microchip.

Peatie was a customer's cat, but kept wandering over to the store to lounge on the patio furniture and bask in attention, so the customer gave Peatie to the store about 10 years ago, where he made himself of use as a mouser.


Peatie quickly became a customer favorite. "They come in here, they ask for him by name. He's our local celebrity,” Kevin Mahoney, general manager, said.

Here is Peatie's full story:

https://www.wkyc.com/article/life/pets/celebrity-cat-missing-from-gales-garden-center-found-six-months-later-how-he-was-reunited-with-his-family/95-5c27c75f-6e7a-472b-a7d2-718dbe6226a0?fbclid=IwAR3yiwIGpDAdfNrs6vZeKXK-QFkxa-pFfC7Dk7dUOqQzQGcNGkhZXKfV-Ck?fbclid=IwAR3yiwIGpDAdfNrs6vZeKXK-QFkxa-pFfC7Dk7dUOqQzQGcNGkhZXKfV-Ck

Presidential Cats, part 3 - Blackie & Tiger

Photograph shows Blackie and Tiger, two of the cats owned by President Calvin Coolidge.
I wish we knew more about these kittens!

I stumbled across this photo in the Library of Congress collection here: https://loc.gov/resource/npcc.09707/.

It is interesting that many of the White House cats are black!

See our previous Presidential Cat shares: https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/search?q=white+house.