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

A-doris-able

Tony Sarmiento of Silver Spring, Maryland, USA, shared this photos of his late cat Doris. "She was a polydactyl, we adopted from the Montgomery County Humane Society."

watching the garlic grow...

Next week, I'll share some fun pics of Tony's current cat, Cali.

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

Trumpet Blast

Lindsey Konkel, a Science, Health, Environmental Journalist, shared these cute pics of her kitty on Instagram and I asked her to share more about them. 

Lindsey said, “ Trumpet is 6 years old, and we've had her since the day she was born. We adopted her mom, Misty--a stray, while my husband was in veterinary school at Tufts University, and we were living in Worcester, MA. Little did we know, she was pregnant and gave birth to two kittens, Trumpet, and her sister Charlotte, a few weeks later. We kept all three of them (see family portrait below from 13 weeks in July 2012)." 

"They're primarily house cats, but have loved exploring the outdoors from a young age. (See a few pics posted here from some of their first outdoor adventures as kittens.) I typically take them outside a couple of times a day for some supervised garden time--usually once in the morning and then around lunch time. They know when it's time and line up at the back door. It's become part of our daily routine, and I think I enjoy it as much as they do. Trumpet is my little bug hunter. She likes hiding in the ivy and 'stalking' her prey.”

Pennock's Cats

Jenny Rose Carey, senior director of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) Meadowbrook 

Farm in Jenkintown, PA, shared information on the PHS Meadowbrook cats. 

She said, "The ginger cat is Rocket. The black cat is Jug Head. They are very cute. Rocket sometimes follows tour groups around the garden. On a recent Thursday, I was giving a flower arranging workshop and he came to check it out."

Meadowbrook Farm was designed and created by J. Liddon Pennock, Jr. (1913-2003), and remains his garden legacy.

Photo sources: PHSonline.org and Yelp.

That's "Sir" to You, Sir

Bradley Evans, horticulturist/curator of the introduction garden at yhe U.S. National Arboretum, shared these photos of a neighbor's cat in the Washington, DC, Bloomingdale neighborhood.

He said, "My name for him as I don’t know his real name: Sir Gray. This lovely black and gray tabby kitty visits me often while I am gardening. He is a neighbor’s cat that I shower with love whenever he visits. On this occasion, after lots of petting and him exploring this small garden, he chose to rest a bit under the cover of Carex ‘Blue Zinger’. He ate a few leaves, cleaned his fur, and went about his merry kitty way. Sir Gray is such a beautiful, friendly, well-mannered, and polite cat. I love to host such amazing garden visitors!"

Kitty Hair Fertilizer

No garden bed is complete without the liberal application of cat hair.

Nuts about Gardening in Birmingham said: "Simba is four years old and from a shelter. He drinks from the toilet or tap and loves catching mice, moles, and birds."

Simbas about to have the fright of his life as the sprinkler is another to go on

By the way, this is the third Simba we have shared on the Cats in Gardens blog. We love our little lawn lions!