Someone may correct me, but I believe in idiomatic English (or American) we refer to cats of either sex as "pussies". Perhaps I'm wrong though, as males are certainly called Toms. The interweb says female cats are called Mollies, but honestly I've never heard this! We got Tasha from a farmer-neighbor, and discussed the question over a drink with him and some other farmers: they all agreed that calico cats (tricouleur) are all female. I've no idea why this should be. It was also espoused that ginger tiger cats are always toms.
So Molly's a calico. Good to know... As you are aware of, the vernacular names for female cats in most European languages can mean... something else. It understand can be embarassing, so from now on, I'll use "female cat" instead. ;-)
The gene controlling orange colouration in cats is tightly located on the X-chromosome so leads to a sex related inheritance of orange colouration. Tortoiseshell and Calico (Tortoiseshell and white) are only normally seen in female cats because they have two X-chromosomes and can have patches of orange and non-orange if they have inherited both alleles of this gene. Males have only one X-chromosome and can therefore only be fully orange or fully non-orange. Females need to inherit two copies of the orange gene (one on each X-chromosome) to be fully ginger which would obviously be more rare than inheriting only one, I have seen it quoted that 80% of ginger cats are toms, not sure if it is exactly right but must be in this ballpark. From: Cat coat genetics - Wikipedia
Thanks a lot for refreshing my "connaissances" (can't say "knowledge", "connaissances" is much more vague in French... ^_^)
Tasha is such a beautiful cat (calico?) and such a good helper. I think my wife might surprise me for Christmas. I've been talking about a Ragdoll for a bit now. Wonderful color on your 'Shoryu no tsume'. I cant wait to get it in the ground to get some size on it. It's only a second year graft but shot up to 5ft this year. I think I'll cut it back to get some branching
That would be awesome! They are great cats from everything I hear. Yes, Tasha is a calico, and a real sweetie, she follows everywhere outside and is ultra affectionate. We found her in a hedgerow, meowing, the first time and were really lucky to be able to adopt her. Especially a pleasure compared to our tom, Miko, who is a big, mean fighter and bites. We get along well enough though, he's a great mouser and even catches the occasional mole. Mine was grafted in 2016 by a friend (and forum member) in NJ. I brought it over as a tiny thing that June and by June 2018 it had graduated to a 12l pot! That's silly-fast growth, I've never understood why it exploded that way. Was planted in March of last year, so really still getting its feet under it. It's a really great cultivar.
The sun came out today and I saw some nice colours emerging off these few in my garden. Osakasuki is for @Xi-feng. My Grandma ghost just dazzled me BTW. Hope you all enjoy it. So they are :- Will's Devine, Beni shigitatsu sawa, Red dragon, Grandma ghost, Orangeola, Waterfall, Osakasuki, Fairy lights,English lace,Lileeanes Jewel, Sunset ,Mr Sun, Dr Brown, Aconitifolium, Inaba shidare, Chitoseyama, and Sangu Kaku. D
The earliest of these 'Koto no ito' pics is from 24/10, and the following day, taken with my older phone. Some days later the colors were much more brilliant, but I struggled with the new phone and had to throw many out; these are the most realistic. Also 'Aconitifolium', 'Ariandne' (in full dark red mode) and a couple of 'Osaka zuki', not really looking the best this year. Then we have a couple of shots looking up at the farm from the south, the first featuring the lovely Cooper, now nearing 15 and struggling but still with us. There's been plenty of rain, and the grass really is that green. The last is the excellent and often overlooked cultivar 'Linearlobum'. -E
I really must invest in a low-carbon, low-cost, safer car, so I can visit my maple friends. ;-) And get me a passport now... :-(
I removed the white bags of soil, this is what I can see from the backdoor : The world's so well-arranged, often dull outside. This is a kind of mental map of my brain disorder. Like ? Huh huh... PS : sorry, I couldn't resist, the word "backdoor" triggered a memory. 1970, I was 15 and the world seemed so beautiful nothing bad could happen to us:
1.and 2. higasayama - first fall with this one 3. 4. Imposters 5 Tsuma Gaki 6. Westonbirt spreading star 7. Purple berry thing and friends 8. Shirazz 9. Shishigashira - has grown 16” at least this year
I'm having the same with many of my trees this year R. But maybe the night frosts will change things this week. D
Thanks D.. when are these night frosts coming? I have a couple of sensitive things outside I need to move then!
Cropped to avoid showing the neighbor's garden on the left, and the garage on the right :) Bottom left: Orange Dream that has now fully turned red Bottom right: Sango Kaku where all its leaves have already dropped. Thankfully, it's showing a nice red bark Middle left: standard Acer Palmatum (this one is quite boring in summer, just basic green, but I like the three tone colors on it in autumn (green, orange, yellow)
I have three seedlings that look the same but that are yet to be identified : 5 deeply divided lobes, almost not serrated. The autumn colours are yellow for the one in the shade, light orange to yellow for the ones that get more sun : 'Little Princess', 'Tsuma Gaki', 'Koto no ito', and a few leaves of 'Beni hagoromo' that have almost reverted to the shape of Acer palm/oenum :
Here's a nice maple called Acer x orientala (campestre x cappadocicum) 'Minorient'. It's a new introduction, getting established now. Also a nice hybrid of (I think) capillipes and pectinatum ssp forrestii, just starting to turn: I don't think I posted A. sieboldianum 'Kinu gasa yama', a beautiful plant but slow growing: The end of 'Chitose yama' along with 'Pink filigree'