Back-in-the-day with Behnke Cats

Stephanie Fleming of Behnke Nurseries in Beltsville, MD, shared these vintage photos of cats at her family-owned garden center. She wrote, "All of these were with Albert and Rose Behnke's children on the Beltsville, MD, property. Most of where they are standing is around is where the garden shop is located today"

If any of you know the Route 1 area near the University of Maryland, you will be amazed at the changes and development happening there now. These cats and kids speak to a simpler time.

Calico Corner

Brenda Haas writes, "These are images from my sweet Calico Betty's baby album! She's been a member of our family since 2004."

She previously shared her kitty, Kink, with us here.

Brenda Haas is a gardener, blogger, photographer, and the founder and administrator of #gardenchat on Twitter. She can be found at http://bggarden.com/.

Home on the Range

John Liz Dodson of Boise, Idaho, wrote:

"Homer was about 18 years old when he died. He was in fact a stray. We had just lost our sweet cat Phoebe to diabetes. We were heart broken. On July 4th, after fun with friends, we were laying in bed and heard this loud, but young, meow. It went on and on and Liz finally got out of bed and went out to find this tiny little kitten in the middle of the street. She scooped him up, fed him, and then put him outside in the backyard hoping he would go back home. The next morning when we got up we opened the back door, no kitty. Good, we were both still pretty traumatized by the death of Phoebe. But as Liz went to close the door the sweet little kitty crawled out from the shelf of the BBQ. At that moment we knew he was home and so did he."

"Our neighbor who had goats, pigs, dogs and chickens told us that Homer guarded all his animals. He would stroll through his yard like he owned it! First time we ever had a male cat. He was so smart and sweet. When I would be out digging in the garden, Homer always insisted on getting in the hole to help!"

"One thing that stands out was he was a hunter and when he caught a mouse he would bring it home, but he would eat the whole thing except for the liver. Somehow he ate around the liver. So we would find these little mouse livers around the garage and patio. And, Homer loved our friend Mary Ann Newcomer's dog, Lily. Homer followed Lily around our yard and would rub his head on Lily like cats do when you are filling the bowl of food! It was amazing"

Mixing It Up!

Deborah Hardwick in Powell, Ohio, shared this handsome kitty.

 

"Here's Mixer ( the cat thrown from a car who ended up on our property)... He's a big cat with a big personality ... He has been here 5 months now, he was 12 weeks old then, per the vet , so he is 8 months old now. Is he full grown now or perhaps will he grow more."

"As you see in this photo, he is very agile with the paws ... And plants ..."

Always with you in the garden

and here he is almost all grown up now

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.

Here Comes Trouble

Gin Kilgore of Chicago, IL, wrote, "We adopted a feral cat last spring as a last ditch effort to keep rats out of our yard. Total success and I love him so much, even though he won't let me get hear him and hisses at me when I bring him food. He's holding out fine in the cat cave beneath our stairs in this frigid Chicago weather. His name is Trouble, He came with the name and it is apt."

Mommie Dearest

James Dronenburg of Knoxville, MD, wrote:

"This is Mama.  She and two of her kittens showed up on a friend’s porch and she fed them..   Then she needed them to go elsewhere, because she was leaving for an extended trip.   So we took them.  We found a home for one kitten but “Mama” and her son “Rubik” stayed with us.  Both are shirt front tabbies, Mama’s more a spotted tabby and Rubik has the stripes.   Mama is fixed, a good mouser (and she shares her mice with us at the kitchen door), both are outside cats and would really, really appreciate a good indoor home."

Photos are by Carol Allen.