A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes...

"A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes." ~ Indian Proverb


Photo source: "Large Siamese cat tosses a mouse" by Niels Hartvig - Flickr: You even scare me, Psycho!. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Large_Siamese_cat_tosses_a_mouse.jpg#/media/File:Large_Siamese_cat_tosses_a_mouse.jpg

Wear Your Green for St. Gertrude!

Here is an updated post:

Thank you to the Crazy Cat Ladies Community on Facebook for letting my know about Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, who is the patron saint of Cats AND Gardening. No lie! I'm Catholic, adore boths cats and gardening, and had never heard of her.

The 17th of March is her Saint's Day, which she shares with St. Patrick. "Fine weather on her feast day meant it was time to begin spring planting." This may also explain why we think St. Patrick's Day is the traditional day for early spring crop sowing -- especially peas -- even though St. Pat has nothing to do with gardening.

Let's reclaim the day for St. Gertrude and wear your green proudly in memory of her love for gardening and for cats!

Philadelphia Fever!

topiary lion

Donna M. Rohner of the Philadelphia Community Cats Council sent along this link for some good tips on keeping cats out of gardens and also the benefits of a good mouser: http://www.phillycats.org/

On the "Garden & Barn Cats / Deterring Cats" page, is this great advice:
"We strongly advocate natural, organic gardening and farming methods for both humane and environmental reasons. Many cats die needlessly from chemical herbicides, pesticides and poisons. In a sad turn of events, a chemically poisoned mouse can also poison the cat who catches him"

Having just come back from two trips up to the Philadelphia Flower Show this week, I can attest to the fact that Philly natives love their gardens and their cats! Here are a few photos from this year's flower show that contain both.

Cheshire cat

Go Away, Your Boring Me!

Karl Gercens of Longwood Gardens took this photo of cat's yawn and he wrote: "It seems that garden kitties are so used to visitors that this one couldn't wait to get back to his cat nap! � at Jardim Bot�nico da Madeira."

Calendar Cats

So I had this brilliant idea to put together a "Cats in the Gardens" calendar next year -- pretty original offering, right? Wrong! I googled around and saw these cats and gardens calendars already on the market. Photographer Del Greger seems to be cranking them out as are a few others, so is there room in the open market for another one?

The Cat Lady's Garden

 There is an amazing Facebook page you all should visit maintained by Karen K. Schultz (The Cat Lady) at https://www.facebook.com/karen.k.schultz.9?fref=ts. She lives in Aurora, CO, and has an wonderful collection of photos from her daylily gardens and her many cats - both past and present. I have shared a few here.

In Memoriam for a Cat Lover and Gardener Extraordinaire

Anne Brooks was a floral designer and lecturer who maintained her garden, Hollywalk, in Brookeville, MD. With over 40 years of gardening experience, she was a tremendous source of plant information. We lost her in January to a stroke. She was a kind, generous soul and will be missed by many in our local gardening community.   
    In addition to gardening, she was also passionate about cats. In these photos from her garden taken by Dan Weil, you can see her much-loved senior cat enjoying a late summer day.
   A celebration of Anne's life will take place later this spring when her garden is in bloom.