It's a Southern Thing...

Regular contributor Marie Mims Butler shared this photo of one of Pam Beck's cats, RC, relaxing on the porch.

Pam of Pam Beck Gardens's said: "RC is the twin brother of a fluffy tuxedo sister we named Moonpie. They are named for a traditional marshmallow-filled chocolate cookie and Royal Crown cola treat that goes well together - it's a Southern thing."

   "They were born to a young feral mother in the wall of a house under construction. The workers found the litter when they were only days old, scooped up the momma and her kittens, and took them to a local Raleigh, NC, veterinarian's office. The vet's office then raised the litter until they were old enough to be adopted.

   "We heard about the litter from our son's girlfriend at the time, who had already picked out a yellow tabby for herself from the kittens. I went to visit and immediately fell in love with the runt, which was also the only female, and asked the vet's office to hold her for us. When I saw the others, I was really drawn to RC, but had promised my husband to only choose one, because we already had 3 adult cats at home. I did visit Moonpie again several times before she was old enough to be released.

   On the happy day that I went to pick up Moonpie, I was informed that all of the others, including their calico momma, had been adopted, except one male with a black face mask, and that he was now alone since his family had all gone to their forever homes. This really tugged at my heart, so as we got Moonpie acclimated to her new surroundings that evening, I talked with Mike about it, and he agreed to at least go by the vet's office on his way home from work the next day to see if the kitten was still there.

   I waited excitedly the next afternoon when I heard the sound of Mike's car turning into our drive. He walked into our kitchen empty-handed, and my heart sank.

   Then a tiny Batman-faced kitten trotted into the room following Mike. Moonpie, who had been sitting in my lap, raced over to him, wrapped her front feet around his neck, and wouldn't let go! They tumbled and played as if they had never been separated."

Pam also shared the following photos of: "Moonpie in the garden and in our kitchen windowbox, which is her favorite sunny spot."

Max the Bunny

Anne Hardman of Silver Spring, MD, is an orchid collector and works as a "label lady" at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. She shared: "Max adopted me at the Rockville Animal Control Center, a sick little kitty, maybe 6 weeks old.  He in 10 years old now and still very shy.  He is hiding behind my orchids and hoping that he isn't noticed. He has the softest medium-length bunny fur you could imagine."

Cheetah GIrl

Rhonda Mahyuni shared photos of her new neighbor's cat. "Her name is Cheetah. She has one new sister-cat who she doesn't like (I think that's why she often hang around our back yard) and a do-gbrother, who she likes so much. Cheetah's human is just recently moved to our neighborhood. I found out that Cheetah is a farm cat, she lives outdoors/indoors. I love having her in our yard since there are so many chipmunks and rabbits here."

Just Say "No"

Hans Hansen at Walters Gardens, Inc., in Zeeland, Michigan, USA, shared this hilarious photo of his nursery cat among the catnip plants. Rarely is a cat NOT photogenic, but Hans captured one of those scarce moments.

He wrote, "Her name is Fluffy. She is 4-ish years old and is the daughter of a farm cat that got brought into the display gardens. She is very, very friendly and will come and visit if she sees people in the gardens. They live in a shed during the winter."

Meadow Cats

Here is another wonderful share from Hunter Ten Broeck, Co-Owner/Operator of WaterWise Landscapes Incorporated in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Hunter writes, "These are our brother and sister cats Evinrude (the tabby) and Xena (his black and white sister). You might remember the previous two cats Taj (a Tabby) and Figaro (B&W) were very similar looking. They both died about 4 years ago. We remodeled our house last summer and in the process had to redo a lot of the landscape. I redid a smaller meadow which we just opened up (removed the protective fence) last weekend."

 
To see Hunter's other Cats in Gardens photos, go here:
http://catsingardens.blogspot.com/search?q=broeck.

Have a Seat

If you can't have live felines in your garden, how about painted ones? These two Adirondack chairs at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA, are the cat's meow!

The Cat Says Moo

Claudia Hosky shared this photo of  "Moo in our Washington, DC, garden. She�s a 6 year old rescue from the Washington Animal Rescue League."