Dancing in the Indoor Garden

Bowie with Watering Cans

Barbara Ellis of Eastern Shore Gardener shared these photos and wrote: "This is David Bowie, Bowie for short, doing his best watering can impression. His garden is indoors and consists of loads of houseplants plus a large watering can collection."   

   "Bowie, along with his brother and sister, was turned into the local animal shelter as a baby feral kitten. They were already well-socialized when a friend passed the litter of still-tiny kittens on to me so she could take on another unsocialized litter. (Bowie got me started fostering, and I have since fostered nearly 40 kittens for the shelter.) Bowie’s brother and sister went to other forever homes, but he stayed with us. He and his slightly older brother, Mick Jagger (also originally a feral kitten), are 2 1/2 now. They patrol their indoor garden to keep it free of stink bugs and random leaves. Their names were inspired by the Mick Jagger and David Bowie video, “Dancing in the Street.” 

Bowie demonstrating some of the hazards he faces in his indoor life.

Mick didn’t want to be left out, because he is just as handsome as his brother.

Thirstiest Cat in the World

Anne Menard McDermott shared this video of a cat that regularly visit her garden in Orange, California. She writes, "The Thirstiest Cat in the World stops by our garden every day to drink from the bubbler.  This little kitty is super sweet and friendly."

Herman and Vermin

This photo is from the Library of Congress collection and is now in the public domain.

The photo caption reads, "Frances Benjamin Johnston's cats, Herman and Vermin, seated on brick railing of New Orleans house, Louisiana."Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) is the photographer and it was taken around 1945.

If you look closely, you can see a water garden with lily pads behind the cats and what appears to be a coneflower in the foreground.

This Cat is Quite Koi

 

Joyce Grigonis a landscape designer in Southold, NY, posted this video of "our cat Ernie eating waterlilies." He is one of her 7 cats.
 
"Ernie's full name is Ernest Hemingway because he is polydactyl like Hemingway's cats in Key West. He is quite unique and about 22 pounds."

 Joyce shared another of her 7 cats, Pussy Willow II, here with us.

Thirsty Cat

Caren Madsen of Silver Spring, MD, shared this picture. She wrote, " Tiger is our next door neighbor's boy. When they're on vacation, we feed him and take him in at night. He hangs out on our patio while they're away."

The Life of Riley

Margaret Koogle of Lilypons Water Gardens in Adamstown, MD, USA, writes:

"Our cat, Riley, enjoys our pond as much as we do! How about at your house? Do you have a pet that enjoys your pond? Love to hear and see! We think he especially loved what was swimming in the pond."

"Riley was a stray cat my daughters found at Lilypons. They found him as a kitten and tamed him by feeding him. He loved the outdoors!" (We are sad to note that Riley passed away in 2010.)

Mini Water Garden meets Big Cat

Janit Calvo of Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center in Seattle, WA, shared this photo on her Instagram page and wrote: " Happy Caturday! Puppy-Cat checking out the new pond in the new miniature garden."

Duck-Duck-Goose!

Here is a  second submission from Holly Budd of Sunderland, MD. (See her first submission here.) She says, "This is Sneazer in the garden. Actually in the greenhouse."

Holly is President/CEO of Williams & Heintz Map Corporation, a map printing company that was started by her great grandfather.

Clean Living

Here is another cat submission from Lynn Title of Lanham, MD:

"Zeli is 18 years old. We think she is part Abyssinian; she has the facial shape and her color is blue roan, not grey. She was born at the D'Arcy Street shelter, the same place all my cats come from. We got her as a kitten, as company for the rowdy Labrador Kona we had back then -- she was a tiny thing tussling with her brothers, but stopped immediately upon seeing us to give us a huge PUURRRR. She was afraid of nothing, and regularly pounced on Kona, who barely noticed her attacks. But she was never a good hunter. Now she's a sour old lady who doesn't like the other cats, but she is still fearless and very people-oriented."

Tub Thumpers

Stacy Walters of Fit to Garden sent this photo in of  her kitties "helping" her with a seed starting video. Stacy said, "Vegas is in the tub and Boots is laying on the desk. They are 1.5 year old ragdolls. Vegas is a lynx sealpoint mink ragdoll and Boots is a lynx seal mitted traditional ragdoll." See Stacy's finished indoor seed starting video here.

Parade Float

 “This kitten, perhaps, is wondering how he is going to get ashore without wetting his feet,” opines the note accompanying a 1935 Alfred T. Palmer photo from the Philippines. “But he is perfectly safe so long as he stays aboard this floating giant of the vegetable world, the ‘Queen Victoria’ (Victoria regia) water lily.”

The tiny cat’s perfect safety wasn’t ever in question. Now more commonly called the giant water lily—reaching eight feet across and staying afloat by means of a substantial amount of air trapped in the spaces between its ribs—the plant is strongest at its center and can hold up to a hundred pounds.
— Johnna Rizzo

From NationalGeographic.com

Photograph by Alfred T. Palmer, National Geographic Image Collection

After the Rain

Rockytop on rain barrel.

Rochelle Bartolomei, Executive Director of Chesapeake Natives, submitted this charming cat in a garden. She noted, "This is Rockytop, in the garden at my house in Forest Glen (Silver Spring, MD).  Rocky helps monitor the vole and field mouse population and keeps an eye on water levels in my rain barrel.  He is also my number one catnip tester."