Richters Loot: The "Piss Off" plant and Mojito Mint

I received a recent order that I made to Richters Herb Specialists in Canada today! The contents being three foundling Piss Off plants and three Mojito Mint plants. Richters is a favorite of mine because of their wild selection of vegetable and herb plants and seeds.

The Piss Off plant is reputed to repel cats, dogs and rabbits. After my earlier experiences with the local feral cats, this sounded pretty good to me. According to the Richters website, "The Piss-Off Plant was developed four years ago in Germany when a Plectranthus canina plant was crossed with a Plectranthus esculentus plant. The goal was to produce an ornamental plant with compact growth habit. It was only later that the plant's unique animal-repelling property was discovered." We'll just have to see.

The Mojito Mint is a native of Cuba and the true mint to use in my favorite Summertime alcoholic concoction. It is mild and warm, not overly sweet like other mints. I tried my hand at overwintering the plant this last winter, but was far from successful. I'm not sure if it was spider mites or just the atmosphere in my greenhouse. At any rate, I was left with sickly, spindly plants that eventually bit the dist. So, I'm psyched to get my hands on these healthy specimens. They will no doubt flourish in the mid-Spring sun.

A Turd in My Punchbowl (or Cats in My Garden), Part II

I worked like I was on a chain gang for a few hard hours to dig my Hosta bed. Removing grass, pulling weeds very carefully around the tender young Hosta, and creating space for additional plants. I even put down a layer of Jobe's Recycled Weed Blocker over the newly added Hostas. Then another layer of soil. I thought that I was finished, aside from adding decorative elements and finishing touches. So, I left it at that, overnight.

I woke to find a cruel metaphorical commentary on my gardening efforts right in the middle and along one of the edges of the bed --- cat poop! They had dug and disrupted quite a bit of soil in order to accommodate the release of their feline bowels. I was pissed! All I could do was remove the offending waste, and salvage the bed. I then decided perhaps adding a mulch made of recycled tires to bed might deter the cats, and give my project a more polished look.

The mulch hadn't been down but a few hours when the cats struck again! Just about all of you know what a soiled litter box looks like. So, I'll spare you the incriminating photos. Once again, I cleaned up the mess, this time rearranging the mulch and adding Cayenne Pepper powder.

You guessed it --- the pepper had no effect! At this point I was pretty angry and at my wits end trying to come up with possible deterrents.

I remembered seeing a product on gardeners.com that might be a possible solution. Cat Scat Mats. Prickly plastic mats that can be anchored into the soil of a garden bed or potted plant. These mats don't harm the cats --- just irritate them and keep them from using garden beds or large potted plants as litter boxes. I ordered them straight away only to find them on back order! *Sigh*

I went to local nursery/gardening center to pick up a bottle of dried Coyote urine or Liquid Fence. Anything!

I freshened up the Hosta bed --- again, sprinkling and spraying my deterrants. My fingers crossed. My mouth locked in a snarl with every piece of poop I picked out of the mulch, and every cat I spied.

The very next morning... Failure! Nothing I did had worked. The feral little beasts had bested me once again!

Well, at this point I'm going to have to redo the entire bed, short of uprooting the Hostas. With the Cat Scat Mats on their way, I can only hope that they work.

To be continued...