Cats and Kittens

Had last week's GCA Fashion in Bloom at Homestead Gardens event taken place just a month earlier I'd have used this shot as my cover image for our Sept/Oct '07 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine. The sedums that make up this cat are known to me as Hens & Chicks, but I have also heard them referred to once or twice as Cats & Kittens. It only makes sense to use them to create a living, life-size sculpture of a cat. They are also the subject of our current cover story (Hardy Succulents). At the event was also a sedum sheep grazing, a sedum rooster crowing, and the company named written in sedum hanging on the side of a wooden shed. The sedum letters are of most interest to me -- what a great idea for a garden at any office, school, or retail store. The Fashion in Bloom is to preview what is new and hot in next year's garden plants. I saw a lot of "I wants," but not too much "I need." I'll be featuring some of the new intros in our magazine's Jan/Feb '08 issue and also throughout the year in our Washington Gardener Enews "Spotlight Special" column.