A Romance with Lord Byron

PAUL LEE CANNON, a fellow garden writer, shared this fun feline -

"I met this handsome, green-eyed ginger Tuesday morning. His beautiful coat stood out amongst the dappled shade of a large mimosa tree that anchors our small front garden. Judging by his crouching-tiger stance, I'm certain he was prowling for birds. When I opened the front door, he ran right up and even tried to work his way into the house. The adorable little beast wore a collar with a bell and an ID tag engraved with "Byron" on one side, owner's address and phone number on the other. We hadn't yet met this neighbor, so I thought I'd pay a visit and see if anyone was home. I'll give you one guess who followed me. Turns out no one was home so I walked back to my house, my new furry friend bouncing closely behind. My spouse, Hugo, opened the front door and Lord Byron (slight name change 'cause oh lordy, is he a sweetie!) ran right in � straight to the food bowls of our two indoor flame point Siamese cats. (Fortunately, they were upstairs snoozing!) He was ravenous, devouring the dry food as if he hadn't eaten in days. After we carried him back outside, he returned to crouching-tiger stance, this time behind our breath-of-heaven bush. I had to return to my desk to get some work done, but of course was fully distracted by the yearning to play with this furr-ocious cutie* all day. "

"A couple hours later, I looked out the front window and didn't see Lord Byron anywhere. Still, I walked outside to see if maybe (hopefully!) he was close by. Something told me I should go to the backyard so I did. Sure enough, there he was, pacing back and forth along the top of a high fence. He let out a few whimpering mews because he couldn't figure out an easy way down. Balanced on a narrow patch of retaining wall, I came to the rescue, reaching out and up. He cautiously eased his body into my hands and we both swiftly returned to safer ground."

"That evening, while I was away exercising, Hugo told me the cat's owner had stopped by. He learned that Byron shares living space with several dogs, but has a cat door through which he can come and go as he pleases. Then Wednesday morning, much, MUCH to our delight, Lord Byron returned to the manor (aka our back garden). We fed the little monster some wet food, followed by a few sprigs of kitty crack (aka catmint), which immediately sent him into a possessed state. I had a few gardening tasks to tend to and what pure joy it was to have this precious kitty follow me from plot to plot. I saw my future in that moment ... living my golden years in a more rural space, a loyal, lovable creature keeping me company as I tended the flower and veggie beds."

"That night, as we were about to head out for dinner with friends, Byron's owner was out walking one of his doggies and introduced the pooch and himself. He asked if we'd seen Byron, whom at the moment was nowhere to be seen. 'We love him! He spent the morning in our back yard," I replied. 'He's welcome here any time.' " 

*Loves chin rubs, belly rubs, being held, and being my shadow.

Garden Ornaments

I spotted this gorgeous cat as I toured gardens in Georgetown, Washington, DC. She is the definition of grace and beauty and is a true enhancement. She makes this urban garden seems all the more inviting and relaxing merely with her laid-back attitude. I want to join her in that sun spot, don't you?

Black and Blue

Wendy Kremer is an avid gardener and amateur photographer in Northern Virginia, USA. She recently shared this photo of a neighbor's cat on her Instagram feed. "My garden visitor keeps the bunnies at bay, and as long as she stays away from the birds, we will stay friends."

     You can also view more of her flower photography on Flickr as well at https://www.flickr.com/photos/wnkremer/.  

Happy Easter!

 
Keep cats away from Easter Lilies and other Asiatic Lilies as cats can suffer acute kidney failure within a very short period of time from just a licking a few pollen grains off their fur.
 
See more about Lilies and Cats at:
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm393028.htm
 
Read more about Cat-Friendly Gardening here:
http://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2015/10/gardenig-is-more-fun-with-cats.html

Here is a List of SAFE Plants for Cats:
http://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2015/11/nontoxic-plants-for-cats.html

Photo Source: FDA 
(This is an updated blog post from Spring 2014)

Boo Boo Kitty

Malus 'Royal Raindrops' and Boo Boo

Robert Selman of Blue Ridge Daylilies in Alexander, NC, shared this beautiful kitty:

"Boo Boo is about 10 years old. She came from a family of  'barn cats' that all looked exactly like her. She used to get into a lot of trouble when she was younger. She has no fear. She once was attacked by a raccoon or other wild animal and was missing in action for almost a week. After she recovered from that, she fell from a tree and broke her leg, which cost a fortune in vet bills. She looked like the bionic kitty for months. She's a one-person-kitty and I'm her person. Now that she's getting older, she seems to stay out of trouble for the most part and mostly loves to follow me around the garden. She licks my face to get me up in the morning if she's ready to go outside to explore. I wouldn't trade her for anything!"

Salix caprea 'Pendula' and Boo Boo

Toasty Warm Feline

Sarah the Gardener of Sarahthegardener.com shared this sweet kitty:  

"Toast the Cat is a sweet wee thing.  We chose her from the SPCA, here in New Zealand when she was 8 weeks old way back in 2002.  So that makes her 14, which is quite a good innings for a cat.  We named her Toast because when she was a cute little kitten the stripes down her side were quite pronounced it resembled grill marks on a slice of bread."

"She started out life as a city cat and we had to put our phone number on her collar as she was fond of getting into cars and being driven away.  Maybe back then she had a yearning to escape to the country.   Finally, in 2007, she got her wish and we moved to the country and she has flourished out here. "

"She loves being in the garden and when I�m working there she is not too far away.  She loves to rest in the shade of whatever is growing over the edge of the beds in the summer and in the winter she can often be found curled up in the warmth of the greenhouse.  We even made a small garden bed for her with her favorite cat nip.  She loves that bed. " 

"She also loves being a bit of a star and whenever I�m making my YouTube cideos she is never far away and always trying to get into the shot. "

"She has such a sweet nature and loves cuddles and is always waiting in the driveway for us to come home � even if we�ve only been gone an hour." 

A Warm Batch of Cookies

Zweetie Zuzie shared these adorable kitten photos. She wrote, "In the fall of 2012, one small calico cat was hanging around my house  I fed her and called her "Cookie" and, after that, this was her home. In winter, she lived in my garage. It was very cold (about minus 30c) and I made a bed for her with an electric heat pad and heated bowl."

"Then in the spring (about May 2013),  she gave me four kittens.  They are good helpers in the garden. She taught the babies how to catch the mice."

 

"But I was heart-broken late that summer when someone came and stolen all the babies. (I have a security camera, but at night-time it is impossible to ID who it is.) I was very sorry for Cookie, the mother as morning and evening she waited for her babies at our front step and cried to tell the babies it was food time  ... It makes me tear-up .. every time when I look at pictures."

You can view more cat photos from Zweetie Zuzie at her Picasa album here: https://picasaweb.google.com/104154037305555726266 or at her Google+ page here: https://plus.google.com/+ZweetieZuzieAngel/about.