Meet Our Nursery Cats

Not only do we grow plants, but we've even got room for a few non-plants. The nursery is protected 24/7 by members of "the PDN family." Yes, we're talking real about the real sopranos. If you've visited the gardens during open house, you have no doubt met some or all of our family of cats. Even if you didn.t see them, you can rest assured that they had you in their sights. ~ Click the portraits below for a feline photo spread ~

Diamond

July 1996 – December 2009

We lost our Diamond In the early morning hours of December 30, 2009. She started losing weight in the summer time and in early fall our vet diagnosed bone marrow cancer after ruling out hyperthyroidism and diabetes.

The night she died, she was in the customer service office where she stayed most of the time during the past 13 years. I believe she felt safe there. The office was quiet and warm and a small lamp washed dim light over the room she was in. Diamond was a very interesting little critter. As with most cats, she lived by her own terms.

She was a beauty, practically everyone who saw her commented on how beautiful she was. She liked to climb up the plastic covering the greenhouses (to the chagrin of the nursery staff) and lay in the sun on the top.

She would not reduce herself to chase anything, much less catch it. She had her standards. She waited each morning for Tony to come and open the office and most days came in at dusk to spend the night in her chair.

She was part of our family and we loved her. I believe she loved us too.

She is sorely missed.

Pearl, (twin sister of Ruby)

DOB: July, 1998
About: Pearl came to us with her twin sister in November of 1998. Most staff and visitors cannot tell them apart...except that Pearl's white socks are a little longer than Ruby's and because of her lack of physical activity, she has a little weight issue. Pearl has a very sweet and loving nature like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If you stop petting Pearl, expect a sharp bite as a reminder to continue. Pearl saw too many Garfield flicks as a kitten, and given the chance, Pearl will jump into open car windows in the parking lot. She may be the first cat on the planet who is allergic to tuna.
Likes: Doing nothing.
Dislikes: Doing anything.

Zirconia

DOB: April 2000
About: Zirconia is our only male, a regal, silver-grey short-haired ball of energy. He rarely sleeps late, and will bug the daylights out of us to let him out in the morning. He enjoys meeting visitors and will climb up on anyone who leans down to pet him, usually wrapping his long body around their shoulders. Zirc, as we nicknamed him, loves attacking other defenseless creatures...we're thinking of renaming him after another well-known terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Likes: Attacking Pearl and Ruby, mostly Ruby
Dislikes: Not getting his way (takes after Tony)

Ruby (twin sister of Pearl)

DOB: July,1998
About: Ruby is slightly smaller than Pearl, and she has a spot on her back left paw. Her socks are a little shorter than Pearl's, but other than that they are identical twins. Ruby loves to roam far and wide and occasionally joins the nursery staff at the potting bench, sleeping on the stacks of boxes.
Likes: To sleep late and groom Pearl's face, canned cat food.
Dislikes: Zircon.