New Plant for me, New Tree for the Cats

I was feeling a bit down on Saturday, and so I thought, what better pick-me-up than browsing at a nursery? I was looking for ideas for my outdoor containers, and of course, I'm always up for a new houseplant. This is what I brought home:

Fatsia japonica variegata

I've been wanting a Fatsia japonica for a while, and I like white variegation in plants. They aren't offered for sale much around here, so I knew I had to take a chance on one, even though they are, like Hedera, notorious spider-mite magnets. This plant will be spending a considerable amount of time outdoors, from early spring to late fall, since they are fairly hardy (to USDA Zone 7, I believe.)

And speaking of the outdoors:

Peppermint is looking wistful, because I won't open the front door for him. Since we no longer have dogs, we've closed the doggie door permanently, and he and Luke are now indoor cats. The local field mouse population is breathing a sigh of relief.

Which brings us to this:

Peppermint plays with a dangling feather toy, while Luke sniffs at the catnip embedded in the scratching pad

Since they can't go outdoors, we decided that they need something new to enjoy indoors, so we treated them to a new cat tree. I've also started a crop of cat grass for them, so they have greens to nibble on.