Mark of the Cat

This week's cat was submitted by Lynn Title of Lanham, MD.

Lynn writes, "Tilde (named for the diacritical mark, because she has one on each shoulder) is a nine-year-old former feral kitten (from the D'Arcy Street PG County Animal Shelter, where all three of my cats come from) who is now a thoroughly-domesticated "sucky cat".  She is an indoor-outdoor cat, and keeps the local mole and vole population down.  Last week she presented me with a newly-killed rabbit nearly as big as herself!

"The photos were taken in my back yard, in late afternoon, atop a stacked-stone wall I built myself using free stone I brought home from highway and construction sites near a friend's house in Brunswick, MD; for years every time I went up there I came home with all the fallen stone my poor Corolla wagon would hold, enough to build another couple more feet of wall.  The plant behind Tilde is a Scotch broom.  They want alkaline soil and sharp drainage, so there is chicken-grit mixed into the soil, and it is mounded above the rest of the bed. In front is a variegated liriope."

Alles Gute zum Katzentag!

This is "Katze" -- cat in German. See lots more of Katze here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tillwe/7870838/in/set-196466/.

These photos are by Till Westermayer aka Tillwe of Freiburg, Germany. You can find his blog at http://blog.till-westermayer.de/ and his Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tillwe/.

Cats Supplies Make Great Garden Tools

As a two-cat household, we go through a lot of litter and as a bonus to that, I get to re-use the litter containers in my garden. I wonder if the kitty litter manufacturers know of this direct connection between cat loves and die-hard/thrifty gardeners or is it just a happy, natural coincidence?

Here is a picture of the kitty litter containers I've been using for watering my home garden and community garden plot. This is Aldi's store brand and the plastic label slips right off and I put it in the recycling bin along with my plastic grocery bags. (Tidy Cat has much the same model.) It is the perfect size for watering and mixing in liquid organic fertilizer. It stores well and does not tip easily. I line up several in a row as a wall for my Faerie Garden when they are not in use. Their squared-off shape makes them much better than many round watering cans. I especially like that they have a big opening for filling up easily at a hose spigot.

I like the large, square, lidded kitty litter buckets as well for storing compost and potting soils. The only drawback I notice is that they can crack down the side and the lids break occasionally. I don't buy my litter in such large quantities though, so I post an occasional note on my neighborhood yahoo list and ask if anyone has extras and always have good luck getting several.

What cat-related supplies do you use in your garden?

UPDATE:
Here is a great DIY Project for making your own self-watering containers using kitty litter buckets:
http://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2015/08/diy-selfiwatering-kitty-litter.html
 

Quebec Trek

 I'm just back from touring public and private gardens in and around Quebec City in Canada with the Garden Writers Assocation. Every garden I went to I looked for felines to photograph. Alas, none. (Plenty of dogs though, go figure.) On the last day, we stopped at a village on the I'lle-d'Orleans (the island of Orleans just outside the city in the St. Lawrence river). There, we visited a wonderful store full of garden statuary called L'Art au Jardins. The inside and out of the shop was stuffed full of garden art pieces. Here are a few cat representations I saw there.

And finally, this one just HAD to come home in my suitcase with me. It is by a Toronto artist and I just love that head-on silhouette. The artist also makes the classic side cat silhouettes and other creatures like Cardinals and Woodpeckers for your garden and tree decor.

Butterfly Kisses

Tracie McWhirt Ballentine wrote: "We inherited Tuxedoman on January 2, 2007. My daughter went to the Stafford Co. (Virginia) Animal Shelter after Thanksgiving to get some 'kitty loving.' After I explicitly told her not to bring home a cat. She brought home a cat. Not just any cat but a pregnant cat. Tuxedoman was born in my bedroom closet the day after New Year's Day. He has been an awesome cat. He is the only cat that I know of that will come when he is called no matter where he is in the yard. By day, he patrols the yard protecting my husband's vegetable garden and my butterfly garden. By night, he is pampered puss ( I bring him in after the sun goes down). He makes an awesome sleeping companion. Cats get a bad rap for being aloof or standoffish, not my Tuxedoman. He is the coolest. As he glides across the yard you can almost hear the jazz back beat."

Tuxedoman on the prowl.

Most days he can be found laying under the leaves of my coneflowers waiting to ambush someone or something.
 

Sunny Days

Kimberly Bell sent in this photo of Sunny. Kimberly works at Outsidepride.com and lives in Oregon.

"Sunny is 10 years old, and a very special orange, tabby female. Orange females are rare from what the vet has said, and she’s polydactyl to top off her 'specialness!' She’s an indoor cat until summer rolls around, and then she spends most of her time lounging amongst the flowers. She used to be quite the mouser when she was young, but now that she’s more mature, she prefers more refined, dignified behavior – and sleep."

Tilly Tends the Garden

 

This is Tilly. She enjoys patrolling the garden and greeting visitors. She lives with Irene Sinclair at her home in the Palisades neighborhood of Washington, DC.