Neil the Great Dixter Cat

 

Garden writer Marianne Willburn took this photo of Neil the Great Dixter Cat while she was attended the garden symposium there this past week. She says, "Neil the Dixter cat. Rescued as a kitten from Kabul. He followed us around the garden on the gentlest of evenings."

If you are not familiar with Great Dixter, it is a legendary garden in the UK. It has "an historic house, a garden, a centre of education, and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world. Great Dixter was the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd – it was the focus of his energy and enthusiasm and fuelled over 40 years of books and articles."

And HOW did I not know there is a "Cat Garden" there! Head Gardener, Fergus Garrett describes the Cat Garden: "This area has a damp meadow containing marginals such as Caltha polypetala amongst vigorous perennials such as Ranunculus acris ‘Stevenii’ and Symphythum ‘Romanian Red’. Old fashioned lilacs sit on the higher level amongst meadow cranesbills (Geranium pratense) and Fritillaria meleagris. Ceanothus ‘Puget Blue’ hugs the building opposite a sprawling Tamarix tetrandra."

On top of that there is an illustrated book all about Neil! It is called: "The Journey of Neil The Great Dixter Cat  you can order it via our Amazon link at: https://amzn.to/3a3D1lc (we may get a few pennies, but it will not effect your purchase price). 

The book tell the story of the "loving men who rescued her (Neil means 'champion' in Irish), and brought her to live out her days in the most beautiful wild garden in the world -- the Great Dixter Garden. Honey Moga, the author, plays a role in the story and her introduction is also fully illustrated, including her dream of being an author after her husband walks out and leaves her alone with nine children. Inspiring, uplifting and true, this is a unique history and a beautifully illustrated depiction of the magical garden where the courageous cat Neil now resides happily."

The Black Attendant

Our recent (Summer 2019)  Garden Book Club selection was: Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katherine S. White. I cannot say that I highly recommend this book to garden readers. The first third was dull as dirt, but it gets better as it goes along. What did strike my interest though was this photo on the very last page:

That missing chapter would likely have made the book a whole lot more readable and relatable, but alas, the lady passed before she had time to write it. The cat, referred to as a "black attendant" is clearly the focus of the photo with the garden and its human mistress as mere backdrop -- as it should be and it leads me to ask: Who then is really the attendant and who the mistress in this setting?

Quoth the Raven

Jan Clark of Maryland shared this photo of her beautiful black cat:
"This is Miss Raven in my living room today. She's indoors only, but surrounded by houseplants and gardening literature. She will be four years old in April. She came home with me in May 2017, just 2-3 weeks after my beloved tuxedo kitty (Kaboodle) passed on. So Raven was unexpected, but a friend was moving and couldn't keep her. I never planned to have another cat so soon, but she has helped heal my heart.
She is quite the diva and a little crazy - running & crashing around the house EVERY SINGLE DAY - and I adore her. For her own indoor garden, I grow cat grass for her."

Judging by the Cover

I knew I'd love Time-Tested Plants: Thirty Years in a Four-Season Garden by Pamela Harper the second I laid eyes on the cover. On it, Pamela is standing mid-garden, holding one of her garden cats.Pamela says her cats "keep her garden free of rabbits."

I had the pleasure last weekend of visiting her Tidewater Virginia garden in person and though I didn't get to see any of these hunting kitties, I did get to talk to Pamela and see the many wonderful plants she is growing almost 20 years after the publication of that legendary garden book.

Here are some photos from that visit:

Pam in a hat!

"hot color" beds

quince espalier

tulips

primrose

Japanese Maple

Cats in their Gardens

 

I probably should not have been surprised when a gardening pal (also a cat lover), Pat Howell, mentioned one of her favorite books has a title very similar to that of this blog. HOw had I never heard of it before? My fingers flew to google and I found a used copy and ordered it immediately.

It arrived this week, post-blizzard, and has been welcome reading between shoveling sessions. "Cats in their Gardens" by Page Dickey was published in 2002 and is a slim book, but chock-full of great photos of kitties and gardens. It seems this was a sequel to her book, "Dogs in their Gardens" and she notes on the book flap that, "cats rather than dogs are the preferred companions" for many notable gardeners. Included in the book are the cats of Martha Stewart and Penelope Hobhouse, among many other garden luminaries.

The author points out that cats, unlike many dogs, are ideal for bringing out the sensual pleasures of the garden -- cats show us gardeners how to slow down and soak up the atmosphere, scents, and scenery of out gardens.

I highly recommend grabbing a copy for yourself if you see it in a used book store or available for order online. It is also an ideal gift for the garden-cat lovers in your life.

Faerie Friends

I found this illustration from an old children's book and added my own caption. Then I started to research the relationship between cats and faeries. I just knew there had to be one as they both are such friends to gardeners everywhere.

On the RavensShire blog, it states: "The Celts believed that cats had their own fairy court, and their own magical powers. In other words, in their fairy tales, cats were often a type of fairy, rather than simply another animal." What a wonderful concept! Those of us who live with cats have all glimpsed these faerie-like powers and attributes including hoarding treasures (must often cat toys) and dancing in the moonlight. 

Learn more about cats and fairy tales from this terrific blog post here.