Cat plants can help your kitty's diet

By John Starnes
Special to the Denver Rocky Mountain News

As gardening in its many forms becomes therapy for our stressed-out generation, consider the following "green" gifts that send that a message of rejuvenation and hope.

But first, a word on what not to give.

If you, like me, are inclined to give garden-related gifts, you probably already have discovered the down side of chia pets.

Instead of the dense green "fur" they show in their annoying TV commercials, all too often you get lanky pale seedlings.

The reason is chia is a type of salvia that needs full sun, and most indoor window sills simply aren't bright enough. And those little "indoor herb gardens" have also disappointed many of us for the same reason. Since neither is exactly cheap, both the giver and receiver are denied the joy of a truly pleasurable living gift.

Here's how to create an unusual, reliable indoor potted gardens.

Herb gardens

Buy several small decorative pots about 6 inches across and deep (be sure they have a drainage hole). Also get some drainage trays, bagged compost and a small bag of dog or cat food nuggets.

Fill one of the pots one-third with compost and sprinkle a dozen pet food nuggets next. (As they decay, the pet food releases a broad range of organic plant nutrients). Cover the food with one inch more of compost, then place either one plump garlic bulb or a dozen shallots pointy side up atop that, then cover them with more compost, leaving an inch of space from the lip of the pot.

If you wish, add a decorative mulch of aquarium gravel, finely ground bark mulch, cheap clay kitty litter or dried coffee grounds. Water deeply with warm water and place in as much sun as possible in a sunny window or out on a patio.

If you give the herb pot unsprouted, the lucky recipient can witness the emergence of rich green foliage that can be snipped off with scissors for a few months to use as richly flavored "chives" in soups, salads, omelettes or on mashed potatoes.

When the bulbs expire, they can be easily and cheaply replaced with new ones from the grocery store. Growing food indoors in winter is fun.

Flower gardens

For a floral potted garden, repeat the same steps, except plant bulbs of the mild-climate narcissus called "Chinese Sacred Lily" or "Soleil d'Or." They are related to paperwhites, but grow a little more slowly, have charming little daffodil-type flowers with yellow centers, and put out a sweet jasminey fragrance more refined than that of paperwhites, which some people find cloying.

The bulbs need no refrigeration to "force" them, and three can fit easily in a six-inch pot. Apartment-bound gardening wannabes and kids will enjoy the rapid growth and the surprise of elegant perfume rarely encountered in houseplants. Sniffing those daffodil-like blooms as a blizzard rages outside is a genuine tonic for a winter-weary soul.

Cat gardens

Do you have a friend whose cats are always munching on their houseplants? Wild cats graze on grass (as well as the plant matter in the digestive tracts of their prey.) House cats aren't misbehaving; their bodies need a vegetative component so they will graze even on toxic houseplants.

Cats that spend summer outdoors will crave fresh, grassy plants by midwinter. So take those decorative pots, fill them two-thirds full of compost (omit the pet food nuggets or the cats may dig them up) and sprinkle about two heaping tablespoons of one of the following types of seeds:

raw popcorn seeds.

bird seed mix.

whole oats or wheat or sorghum (from a pet store or feed store).

wheat berries from a health food store.

annual rye grass.

Cover the seeds with 1 inch more of compost and water deeply. (Cats prefer members of the grass family, so they'll likely ignore the sunflowers that sprout from the bird seed mix but savor the millet seedlings.)

Grown on a table by the sunniest window, these cat gardens will delight your kitty. Include a jar of extra seeds so the garden can be replanted every four to six weeks as the seedlings are grazed to death. Both your friend and the cat will be grateful for this usually overlooked living gift.

Rose gardens

Know someone who loves roses but finds them frustratingly difficult in Colorado's cold winters, hot summers and alkaline soil?

Call the Antique Rose Emporium in Texas at 1-800-441-0002 and order an easy-to-grow, own-root Victorian-era rose for them. It will arrive at their home next spring already fertilized and cut back for regrowth. It can be kept in its 2-gallon pot on a bright patio or planted in a sunny spot in the garden when frost danger has passed.

The folks at the Emporium will mail a gift card to the lucky recipient.

Choose from these especially reliable varieties bred largely in Victorian times for cold climates like ours:

Coquette de Blanches, white to light pink, (1871).

Louise Odier rose pink, (1851).

La Reine Victoria, medium pink, (1872).

Baronne Prevost, medium to light pink, (1842).

General Jacqueminot, red blend, (1853).

Ferdinand Pichard, pale pink striped crimson, (1921).

Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, silvery pink, (1899).

Mme. Isaac Pereire, dark raspberry magenta, (1881).

Warmer colors can be found in reliable 20th century roses (make sure they're "own root") such as Graham Thomas, golden, (1983); Leander, apricot-orange, (1982); Felicia, apricot pink, (1928). These tough-as-nails roses grow like weeds in Colorado if kept deeply mulched, with minimal bug and fungus problems, offering oodles of fresh, perfumed roses without the worry and hassle of toxic sprays and elaborate pruning schedules we associate with modern grafted roses.

The first old rose I bought was Baronne Prevost back in 1989, and every summer that huge, honkin' bush treats me to big, decadently fragrant blooms.

Fish emulsion

To your friend with the brown thumb, give a quart bottle of old-fashioned Alaska Fish Emulsion. Made from Pacific Ocean fish waste and thus loaded with plant nutrients, it has made people successful gardeners for nearly a century (in Grandma's day it was called Atlas Fish Emulsion and she used it on her African Violets, ferns, houseplants, orchids and roses).

The fishy smell fades in a couple hours, and unlike those perky blue soluble chemical fertilizers, fish emulsion is low in salts and offers a perfect balance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and trace minerals. Some folks swear by it for their favorite garden plants, too, especially herbs and vegetables.

John Starnes is a Denver gardener, rose expert an freelance writer.