Young Blue Eyes

These three images of this Siamese cutie are by Robert Couse-Baker of Sacramento, California, USA. They were posted to PXhere.com. In the descriptive text, Robert writes: "Kitten got some Big Blue Room time today. She LOVED the birds."

A Blasé Attitude? Not One Bit

This is Blaze. His owner, Marty Last, generously shared her story and photos with us.

"In the summer of 2011, we had to put down our beloved Main Coon cat, Cloudy, who at the age of 20 died of cystitis, a common ailment of elderly male cats.  It wasn’t long before we so missed having a feline friend in our home that we  began a search for new family feline.  We agreed that it would be a rescue cat, and since I had once had a wonderful Siamese, we  decided on that breed.  So, we began exploring the website of Siamese cat Rescue Center (SRC), based in Louisa, Virginia, that serves  the entire east coast.  That  turned out to be an excellent choice! "

"We were assigned an online interviewer by SRC,  who assisted in matching us with the dozens of cats we could view online on the SRC website.  SRC offered transport service called the Meezer Express should our choice be far away. A particular requirement recommended for our match was that since there was already a cat in our household - our son’s female tortie - our selection should be a male, and known to be tolerant of other animals. That eventually narrowed the the search to Blaze who seemed a perfect fit!  Foster moms quotes were superlative: 'wonderful personality, very affectionate, and attentive.'  One foster mom had a personal  pet, a female tortoise shell who was privileged to sleep with her, but would not allow other cats.  Blaze decided he wanted to sleep with her and he would not 'take no' for an answer.  He won with gentle persistence.  But Blaze was in Florida, we were in the Washington, DC, area."

"Blaze at age two years, eleven months, a neutered male, was surrendered to Assisi animal shelter in the  Naples, Florida area by his owners due wishing to be 'free to travel.' A handsome flame Point Siamese (not a Seal Point), friendly, sweet boy who tolerated all other animals in the shelter —  cats and dogs included. A good match, but all the way to Florida?  We gave up hope for a while. . . But we were cleared for adoption but put on hold."

"Then one day our interviewer called with good news.  A couple, who were volunteers on the Meezer Express, were disembarking from a Caribbean cruise in Florida contacted the Express coordinator wanting to know if any cats needed to be transported from Florida to the Washington area!  Amazing timing and coincidence."

"Blaze was delivered by the volunteers to our home in McLean at about 2:00 a.m. Easter Morning 2012!  The volunteers declined offers of coffee, but stayed to watch me release Blaze from his carrier.  He came bounding out and immediately jumped into my lap purring.  Characteristic Blaze. He adjusted right away. He seems especially to adore my husband when they met that morning."

"Blaze is such a sweet friendly fellow, he just loves people.  Often when we have guests, he is always present wherever we congregate.  Then after a while seems to choose one guest person to visit by jumping onto their lap or sitting next to them with his head in their lap, purring.  Fortunately, my friends tend to be honored when he chooses them.  We have been honored to have him for the past nine years, and although he is primarily an indoor cat, we are glad he has had our garden to explore."

"The fenced back garden of our property was landscaped in 2004 by Chris Valenti of J.B. Landscaping.  It features an in ground swimming pool, a waterfall, water lily pond, and a stream adjacent to an enclosed porch.  Its original design used many Asian plants giving it a serene Japanese-like feel.  However, since I am an advocate for planting native species, we have introduced many native species, while maintaining the Asian feeling.  Its natural environment supports diverse wildlife.  Blaze and his companion kitty, Brie, enjoy watching the goldfish and birds, and stalks the resident bullfrog Waldo.  The black snake thankfully stays hidden when cats and people are present. "

Catnip ecstasy. . .

Cautiously stalking black snake

Ok Waldo I know you’re in here somewhere.

Not going after those fish and get myself wet!

So handsome. . .

Almost caught Waldo bullfrog that time!

Under the cool of the Japanese maple.

Love these flower deliveries.

Thanksgiving Day under the winter-blooming camellias.

Outdoors looks like a fun place.

Boxwood Purrrfection

Charles King Sadler of King Garden - In the Landscape shared this video of a friendly feline "who supervised our Boxwood rejuvenation pruning and training in Dallas, Texas." King said he was hired as a boxwood consultant and trainer by arborist. He had no further information to share about the cat or its owner.

   In the video, you can see that  this garden cat is quite vocal about his boxwood appreciation and is not shy in the least. 

You've Got Cat-Mail

Sally Meitz of  Munith, Michigan, shared this photo. She said, "This is my neighbor’s cat. We don’t know her name, but we call her Lily. My neighbor is elderly and living with her daughter a few blocks away, and it falls to the daughter to come over and care for her mother’s four cats. When the weather was warm they spent much of their time in my yard, but now that it’s cold out, fortunately they are indoors most of the time. Lily is very vocal and very affectionate."

Snow in Fall

Pam Beck, a garden writer, lecturer, and photographer, shared these fun photos of her cat. He is one of 4 felines in her household.  

She wrote: His name is Yuki, which is Japanese for 'Charmed' or 'Lucky' as well as 'Snow,' perfect since we rescued him on a Friday the 13th from the middle of a bridge as a 4-week old, injured kitten. He is fully recovered and loves to follow us when we are in the garden. 

In the photo above, "The crape myrtle is 'Townhouse', one of the lovely cinnamon colored bark crape from the JC Raulston Arboretum. It is a white-flowered form. The bees seem to make the entire tree hum and the petals fall as summer snow. Love it. The green grass-like plant is the winter foliage of Hurricane lilies or red Spider lilies (Lycoris radiata)."

Capitol Cat

I stumbled upon this lovely kitty at the Church of St. Monica and St. James, an Episcopal church on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. USA. The rectory and church grounds include a beautiful garden that was part of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society's House and Graden Tour earlier this month.

I took these photos right at dusk so the cat's eyes really stood out amongst the shade foliage. The kitty had no visible name tag, but by the collar and bell and her gentle demeanor, I assume she lives happily at the rectory -- welcoming one and all.

A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes...

"A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes." ~ Indian Proverb


Photo source: "Large Siamese cat tosses a mouse" by Niels Hartvig - Flickr: You even scare me, Psycho!. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Large_Siamese_cat_tosses_a_mouse.jpg#/media/File:Large_Siamese_cat_tosses_a_mouse.jpg

Mighty Mouser

Happy New Year 2014!

This cute kitty is Cassie from Cascadian Nurseries in Hillsboro, OR.  

We love working cats here at Cats In Gardens! If your nursery, public garden, or other garden-related business has a cat in residence, please share them with us.

This was submitted by Katharine Rudnyk (@monroviakat) with Monrovia growers.

Siamese, if you please sir

Another cat submission from Hunter Ten Broeck, owner of WaterWise Landscapes Incorporated, in Albuquerque, NM.This stray visitor stopped by the 'Tiger Eyes' Sumac, which is just changing to its brilliant fall colors.

Stardust Memories

 

 

This week's kitty was sent in from Eileen Daniel. She has a total of four kitties and all love the herbs and flowers in her garden.

"This is Ziggy, from Pensacola,  Florida. Ziggy was rescued two years ago by his human mama, after some crack heads had abandoned him at a rental house. Ziggy is believed to be Siamese & possibly Maine Coon."

Blue-Eyes and Orange Bowl

Cloud

Rochelle Bartolomei, Executive Director, Chesapeake Natives, has submitted another cat. She showed us this one last week. This blue-eyed charmer is Cloud and Rochelle let us know that she has 6 cats total, a big garden, and a husband who loves photography, so we are expecting more shares in the future.

Rochelle says, "My riff on this one is a la William Carlos Williams, 'so much depends upon, a siamese cat, glazed with rain water, beside the orange bowl.' "