Guardians of Gibbs Garden

I visited Gibbs Gardens north of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, a couple weeks ago with the Azalea Society of America. While there, I was thrilled to run into a trio of friendly garden cats. They are pictured here. Paisley is the long-haired calico shown at top. Tiger is the male striped kitty shown just below. The two bottom pics are of Spot who greeted our group at the entrance and enjoyed a nice sun bath on a cool spring day.

I found this terrific article about the cats at SmokeSignalsNews.com. In it, Jim Gibbs, owner, designer, and developer of the acclaimed Gibbs Gardens says, "Every garden needs a garden cat. Cats help keep down moles, voles and other pests that eat garden plants. The voles are the worst; they eat plants from the roots up.”

The article details also the origins of the Gibbs Gardens' cats and that at one point there were 11 of them on the property! I highly recommend a visit to the garden and for you to keep an eagle eye out for these friendly felines.

 

Tippy Toes in the Bulb Boxes

Regular contributor Marie Mims Butler shared these photos and wrote, "Meet Tippy Toes. For 14 years she has been a sales cat at Norfolk County Feed and Seed in Portsmouth, VA. She lures customers in with her charm and willingness to be worshipped. Tubers, bulbs, seeds, plants, pots, and products mysteriously appear in the customer’s cart. Tippy Toes is a feline siren. She scoffs at our efforts to resist."

"In my Facebook post, Les Parks posted a picture of another Feed and Seed kitty (shown below) Gizmo has lost garden center privileges after trying to commute across 4 lanes of traffic to and from home. She is safely lounging at home, scoffing at those who work for such a pampered way of life."

Gizmo by Les Parks

Marie Mims Butler's previously shared posts to this blog include these:

https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2016/10/its-southern-thing.html

https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2012/12/leaves-or-squirrels.html

https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2014/06/you-understand-me.html

She's Got Moxie!

Myrthe Doedens shared these photos and said, "I run the Instagram account Growing on Hamilton (@growingonhamilton), which documents my attempt to turn a mostly concrete back "yard" into a green oasis in Washington, DC. While this is my first season gardening, I have long been a cat lover and knew I wanted to add a kitten back into my life. Enter: Moxie! 

   She is a rescue and her litter was found outside on a farm in Maryland. I adopted her at 11 weeks old and, because she was so small, could not bring her outside until recently. In the city, we have very eager vultures and sometimes foxes who I worried would be all too interested in her if she were lounging outside in the sun. Now, at 15 weeks old, she's big enough to fit in a harness and is starting to explore! 

   So far, she loves chasing bumble bees and flies under the apple tree and is eyeing up my lower raised bed as a playground...we'll be installing some fencing soon. She also loves her big brother Melee, a 3 year old Doberman, who joins me in the garden often to enjoy a lazy afternoon snooze.

How's Trix?

This is Alex Czapicki sharing a selfie of her and her cat.

She writes, "I'm Alex and my calico cat's name is Trixie. We live in the heart of Washington, DC. Three summers ago, I transformed our shared backyard into a plant haven for me and my girl. Although a true indoor cat, Trixie is my biggest garden companion and always provides me comfort in the yard until she gets scared and runs inside. I also grow organic catnip for her which she loves!"

You can follow Alex at @RomentaPlants for fun garden photos, planting tips, and cats in the garden! 

Diamonds are Furr-ever

 

These are photos by Leif Kurth and were posted on Flickr. He has some terrific images and most of the cat ones appear to have been taken in Diamond Lake, Minnesota. 

If you like these, check out many more of his cat photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/152376767@N03/tags/cat/

Seasons Change

On the Bored Panda web site, a community member named Magdalena Grześkowiak shared a wonderful post of her cat, Kate, through the seasons.

Magdalena wrote, "Seasons change but the cat remains the same. When you live in the city your cat looks at the outside world through the window. I decided to take Kate with me on my excursions, so she can taste what it's like to live at large. I've selected 4 photos from each season to tell the story of her adventures."

Every one of her images are stunning, but I selected two out of them to share here that are particularly evocative of the season they depict. 

Go to view the rest of the photos here. I think you will agree that this garden cat is enchanting and the photographer quite talented.

Cat-a-Rita

Forest Firefly(@comfortzone_LG on Twitter) shared this photo:

"Her name is Rita. I adopted her and her brother in 2013 as kittens. She LOVES to climb and be in my garden. We live in Oregon, USA."

Going Back to Cali

Last week Tony Sarmiento of Silver Spring, MD, USA, shared pics of his late cat, Doris. Here is his current cat, Cali. "She adopted us a few years ago. She used to live with another family down the block, but for some reason she decided to move." Both Tony and Cali are big fans of garlic, but Cali seems to be even more partial to catnip.

bunny hunter

Invasive Cats

Louisa of Thanksgiving Farms in Adamstown, MD, shared this photo. She said: "When planting cats in the garden make sure to leave room. They like to spread. They prefer a sunny location in the morning with cool afternoon shade. Some cats are invasive like the one pictured. She has attached herself to a soft, low growing mondo grass. To keep cats from multiplying please spay and neuter. I always recommend planting cats in the garden. They add movement and interest to any setting."

I visited Louisa's home garden and came across this kitty and several other feral cats. Here (below) are the best captures I could get of these flighty felines.

See a previous Garden Cat share from Louisa here: https://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2015/09/warning-invasive-species.html

Summer Days in the Country

Carley relaxes in the shade.

During the recent Garden Conservancy Open Days in Frederick County, MD, I visited Surreybrooke Garden Center in Middletown, MD. Owner Nancy Walz lives on site and has a wonderful collection of both pet animals and animal statues sprinkled around the landscape.

Nancy said, "Carley is a 13-year-old girl and we got her along with her twin brother, Charles, from one of our customers who gave us the kittens when she was moving away. You can tell difference between the two as Carley is always a little unkempt and doesn't keep herself as neat as Charles."

Cali naps on a log cabin porch.

Wandering through the many garden rooms and buildings, I came across this sweet kitty napping on a porch. "Cali is a Calico girl cat who is about 15 now," Nancy said. "The grandkids named her. We got her from a farm down the road. We took 3 kittens at the time, but she is the only one left from that litter."

One of the many charming animal statues placed throughout the gardens.

Bandit competes for photo ops with the many gorgeous garden containers.

During my visit to Surreybrooke, I was petting Carley when Bandit came up behind me and pushed under my arm to get his fair share of attention. Nancy said, "He is a Dalmation-Beagle mix and is 12 years old this summer, but you wouldn't know it. He runs in the morning while I do my chores and has great energy for his age."

O Canada

Natty Morris shared these beautiful photos of her cats and flower-filled gardens in Ontario. Canada. The kitty at the bottom is named "cow" for the black-and-white spots. You can find many more photos of her gardens (and cats) at the Flowers for Life public group page on Facebook.

A Warm Batch of Cookies

Zweetie Zuzie shared these adorable kitten photos. She wrote, "In the fall of 2012, one small calico cat was hanging around my house  I fed her and called her "Cookie" and, after that, this was her home. In winter, she lived in my garage. It was very cold (about minus 30c) and I made a bed for her with an electric heat pad and heated bowl."

"Then in the spring (about May 2013),  she gave me four kittens.  They are good helpers in the garden. She taught the babies how to catch the mice."

 

"But I was heart-broken late that summer when someone came and stolen all the babies. (I have a security camera, but at night-time it is impossible to ID who it is.) I was very sorry for Cookie, the mother as morning and evening she waited for her babies at our front step and cried to tell the babies it was food time  ... It makes me tear-up .. every time when I look at pictures."

You can view more cat photos from Zweetie Zuzie at her Picasa album here: https://picasaweb.google.com/104154037305555726266 or at her Google+ page here: https://plus.google.com/+ZweetieZuzieAngel/about.