Next Stop: Sleepytown

Fellow garden writer Louise D. Clarke, who works at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphiam PA, shared this photo:  "Ayame, a female cat, belongs to Sara Leighton, who lives in Newark, DE. While Sara is away, Ayame is staying with me in Media, PA. Ayame is at least 10 years old and is pictured in my home garden under the shade of crape myrtles. She has an automatic feeder and is very good at telling time. She also likes high places to perch."

I did some side research and found that "Ayame" is a popular female name in Japan and the name of a trains service there. The association between cats and trains is a common one world-wide -- from Chessie  here in the Mid-Atlantic USA to Felix in the UK to Shawarma in Israel. All aboard! 

Rooted Dandelion

Sara Brown Long shared: "This is Dandylion. she is a bit crazed from her life of severe allergies so she deals with it by an OCD-like rotation of locations. For the past month, that has meant perching on the narrow railing of our screened-in front porch, gazing royally out over her garden, all while furiously balancing herself with a lot of help from her toes and tail. this is interrupted only by her al fresco dining, her mad dashes through the house to her backyard-pounce-around-the-garden sessions on a lead, and the rare occasion when she feels compelled to sneak an exhausted nap on a horizontal surface."

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."

Not-So-Bitter Rue

I saw Rue featured on Greenstreet Gardens social media channels and had to know more. Tim Williams, Manager of Greenstreet Gardens of Virginia, location on 1721 West Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA, shared this bio of Rue:

"Prior to the fanfare and notoriety she now enjoys, Rue was born sometime during June or July 2017 either to feral parents or later abandoned as a kitten. She was rescued by the Blue Collar Cat Program, organized by the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, DC, and was placed with Greenstreet Gardens in April 2018. 

"Our story mirrored those of many who seek to adopt cats through the Blue Collar Cat program. Greenstreet Gardens, a full-service garden supply and plant store, was interested in getting a cat to help prevent mice from damaging products. Customers and employees regularly open the doors as most of our products are outside, and without any physical boundaries, it seemed clear that our environment might not be suitable to a cat used to living inside.We reached out to Blue Collar Cats after being referred to them by several cat-loving individuals because Blue Collar Cats places street cats of varying degrees of socialization with businesses and individuals who need rodent control.

"Rue arrived at Greenstreet small (weighing a mere 6 lbs.) and very shy. She is still petite, but between her rodent dinners and the treats, regularly given her by employees, she has filled in and rounded out quite a bit. More importantly, as the months passed, she became increasingly comfortable with the people she saw every day. We all hoped she would eventually feel comfortable around customers, if not outrightly friendly. Not only has she become a popular member of the team here at the store,  she has managed to find her way to tolerate (as only a cat can), the pets that often accompany their humans to the store; and she recently even allowed a customer hold her.

"When the weather is nice, Rue spends most of the time wandering around the store property; you can often find her observing employees as they work. She is allowed to come and go anywhere she wishes and has learned that by simply sitting near a door she will soon have several customers and employees vying to be the one who opens the door for her to enter or exit. We initially were concerned she might wander too far or try to cross the busy streets that surround the property, but she has shown a remarkable understanding of the areas safe for her to explore. She will occasionally sit on the edge of the parking lot, but she has never ventured out to areas where cars could hit her.

"Like most cats, Rue knows what she wants and uses the people around her to get it. We have had to enforce a “no treats” policy because her appetite was voracious and she knew that begging for more not only earned her more treats, it also brought added attention and showers of compliments: “Oh, she’s so cute!” 

"She still gets plenty of the modern comforts like air conditioning and fleece-lined, padded beds, where she often spends the hottest hours of the day curled up in a sunbeam; she’s also comfortable with being out in cold or damp weather – the one exception being thunderstorms when she seeks refuge in the store’s office underneath (and as far back as she can get) one of the desks. Her favorite seasons are Spring and Fall when the weather is cool and there are new areas to explore as the store’s inventory and design changes for the season: either stocking up on new plants or laying out straw and pumpkins.

"How did we come to name her Rue? We certainly didn’t lack for suggestions – employees at all the Greenstreet stores chimed in, as did customers. Early on we decided that her name would be that of some variety of plant and that it would also reflect her distinctive character.  After much deliberation the decision was made to name her after the herb Ruta graveolens, which aptly translates as “herb of grace.” Rue’s personality has also encouraged a variety of plant-related nicknames including Ruellia and Rutabaga. She has a very round face, so even the latter name is reasonably well-fitting.


"Rue had already become a popular and loved member of the community, but in spring 2019 she gained celebrity status when People Magazine ran a full-page story, which included her picture in their May 20 issue. Now. she finally has the popularity to go with her princess-like bearing and strut. In the months that followed she has also been photographed and ‘interviewed’ by Agence France-Presse and Scripps."

Cats in Gardens blog readers may recall that we featured Rue's "cousin" Patch, adopted by GreenStreet Gardens in Lothian, MD, in this post.

Be Gone, Begonias!

Fellow garden blogger Shirley Fox shared this photo and commented, "that shelf was intended to hold begonias! Begonias have lost their place."

I nabbed another photo of the tortoise-shell feline off her blog at https://rockoakdeer.blogspot.com where she said, "She arrived as a feral about four years ago and we began caring for her. Over time, she has become more friendly, but is still wild enough to remain an outdoor cat."

Why Do Cats Go Nuts Over Weigela?

My garden writer friend, Larry Hodgson, over at the Laidback Gardener blog (https://laidbackgardener.blog/) posted this q-and-a on a topic I had never heard of before -- some cats love weigela. I grow many kinds of weigela shrubs in my garden and have not seen any of my cats or other cats interacting with it, but I am going to keep an eye out for it now.

Here is Larry's blog post about it:

Question: My 7-year-old cat has discovered my weigela bush. During flowering, he climbs into the shrub to grab the flowers, rolls around in it and meows happily. Honestly, he seems to be high! I have many other plants, but he leaves them alone. It’s really very funny. Do you know why this happens? ~ H. Filteau

Answer: You’ve hit upon a situation that is fairly well known to cat-lovers, but one that has not yet, to my knowledge, been studied. Some cats (a small minority) do indeed seem to adore weigelas, but others are completely indifferent to these shrubs.

I think it’s safe to presume that weigelas (or at least some weigelas) give off a chemical compound of the same type as nepetalactone, the terpene that makes catnip (Nepeta cataria) so attractive to many kitties. Other nepetas (Nepeta spp.) also give off this product, but to a lesser degree. In fact, protecting ornamental nepetas against overenthusiastic kitties was the subject of a recent blog: Protecting Nepetas From Cats.

A Repellent With a Feline Side Effect

If the catnip produces nepetalactone, it’s as a protection from predatory insects. Nepetalactone is a recognized insect repellent and few six-legged pests will attack catnip plants. Its side effect, that is, attracting cats, is less desirable … for the plant at least. But cat owners have a lot of fun watching their tabbies interact with dried catnip leaves, often added to cat toys.

Similarly, some cats avidly rub up against and roll around in honeysuckles (Lonicera spp), including Tatarian honeysuckle (L. tataricum), and it also produces nepetalactone. In fact, honeysuckle shavings too are sometimes added to cat toys.

Kiwis (Actinidia spp.) produce a different product that attracts and intoxicates cats in the same way: actinidine. The silver vine kiwi or matatabi (A. polygama) is particularly rich in actinidine. In fact, in the Orient, silver vine sticks are more often used in cat toys than catnip.  

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In my own garden, a brown and white cat often rubs against and scratches my female arctic kiwi (A. kolomikta), obviously in ecstasy. Oddly, she never touches the male vine. Maybe my female cultivar, ‘Ananasnaya’, is richer in actinidine than the male? Curiously, other cats in the neighborhood seem indifferent to both.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), an ornamental perennial, medicinal plant and, in many areas, noxious weed, also produces actinidine and will also attract cats.

Finally, cat thyme (Teucrium marum) produces another component that makes cats go a bit nuts: dolicholactone, chemically very close to nepetalactone. It’s occasionally grown as a cat plant.

How cats respond to these various products differs from one individual to another. Some only react to nepetalactone, others only to actinidine and others only to dolicholactone, others to two or all three and finally, some cats simply don’t gain any euphoric effect from plants of any kind. Also, the reaction can also vary depending on the conditions: for example, some female cats don’t react to these products during pregnancy, but resume once their kittens are born.

Now what we need is a scientific study of exactly what compound in weigelas attract cats… and then I’ll have an appropriate answer to your question!

Hachi: A Cat's Tale

Hachi reacts with consternation to my meowing at him.

 Inez Austin Jackson and I are both members of the Potomac Rose Society and a few other local garden clubs. Over the years, I have heard amazing things about her garden and legendary hospitality, so I eagerly anticipated attending her open garden a few weeks ago. What I had not been told about was her beautiful garden cat. This stunner came out the greet me as I took numerous photos around her garden. He was a terrific and playful tour guide.

She writes, "His name is Hachi. He is an Ocicat breed. He is extremely loving and friendly to others but an avid hunter. Keeps after the chipmunks and has rid the garden of moles, voles, and mice. When he isn’t busy hunting, he loves to ride around with me in the car on errands. 

  The little box on his collar keeps him as a house and garden cat. Otherwise, he would be over the fence- hunted and eaten by the many, many foxes in the neighborhood."

Why are all these insane plant people in my garden?

Pet me, please!

Those gorgeous hunter eyes,

Hachi accepts stranger's kisses.

Guarding his corner of the garden.

A sign from Inez's kitchen.