My favorite non-human gardening companion is...

Me, myself and I. I love the solitude and contemplation.

I agree that it should be "all of the above" instead of none of the above. Which one could be excluded? I chose hummers because this year, they seem almost tame. I have had them come very close to me this year and they seem to be totally unafraid of my dh and I.

I simply love all of God's creatures and they all make my gardening experience a great one.

The only think that I would exclude would be the snakes. So far this year "nada" on the snakes. I hope it stays that way.

Charlene

I had to vote for my cats. They both come out and follow me every where. I'm positive that they are supervising my every act! And, as someone up above said, they're always their offering their moral support!

Dragon Flies follow me around when I'm watering and try to drink the water coming from the hose.

My mother hen Beauty and her 12 chicks follow me around the gardens waiting for any morsals I happen to uncover for them while weeding.

I voted for None of the Above
My cat stays in the house, and wasps don't like me in THEIR garden..... not to mention the ANTS (wish I couldn't mention them - they Bite!)
Songbirds send "prezzies" by way of droppings on my head lol
The garbage men drop the lid of my can on the flower bed (nasty wee men!!), so other than my DH, I have no one to help lol
My neighbour wishes I planted roses, and roses only, so She's no help, either LOL
This is my garden on July 5th - I should update it, cuz it's sooooo much fuller!!

By day it's my kitties or a barn cat from next door. However by night it would be this critter. He helps me by encouraging me to do whatever I need done quickly!

Well it has to be my fish. And the birds which I feed and the hummers the buzz in all the time.
Greg
Zone 9
Ca

I chose the hummingbirds! They are my fav's.

Bees! You forgot the bees.

hummers/bees/dragonflies.

A shovel my DH made for me from his favorite tool - a trenching spade/shovel -& my banty chickens. I wouldn't take a billion $$$ for that shovel/spade. And the banties are so much company. Yes, they do some damage, but the shrouds from worn out fans and discarded 'fridge racks, etc. help protect my plants.

All 3 of my cats are great company in the garden. They like to hide beneath the daylilies and ornamental grass and then launch sneak attacks on me when I walk by. Always makes me laugh. Samson is very fond of Alyssum and reacts to it almost like it was cat nip. His job is to flatten it. He gives new meaning to the term "Bed of Flowers".

Another photo of Samson working hard to get that Alyssum to lay flat.

Sophie is a good snake catcher.

Sadie mostly supervises and keeps out the squirrels.

Gorgeous gardners you have there.

My three cats don't help at all - quite the reverse, but the butterflies have been wonderful ythis year.

None of the above... A nice cold beer is my favorite non-human gardening companion.

Doug

Our sheltie is my gardening companion along with all the usual garden critters. He parks his butt as close to where I am working as possible even will try to sit along on my garden kneeler bench.

I also had a hard time choosing one, I tried to focus on the idea of favorite 'garden companion'. I chose butterflies because I see them the most, so they give me the most pleasure. They are flying by my head all day long. I see hummers almost every day but they are much sneakier visitors, so not as frequent of a companion. I do always get excited when one doesn't notice me within a foot from where they decide to nectar. They are so much funner to watch up close. My cats give me chuckles quite frequently in the garden but usually they are up to no good. Stalking the bird feeder, trying to catch my beloved butterflies, laying right under the hummingbird feeder so the hummingbirds are too scared to visit them, digging up newly planted seedlings (most likely to do you know what in their place). I think we all know how silly kitties can be. So that's how I narrowed mine down.
Lincolnitess Love your kitties! Now I know why my Alyssum keeps dying! It's the kitties! My old man kitty does seem to sniff at it a lot. I'm sure he waits until I'm not looking and lays on it and rolls around. He knows his antics wouldn't last long if I saw him. I would shoo him away. : ) I tried growing catnip for my kitties but it never amounted to much because they kept nibbling it down to nothing.

Here is one of my garden companions. He is great digging holes where ever you point. He loves weeding and pulling the tree roots sticking out from the ground. Loves to chase squirrels and lizards. Not scared to get down and dirty. LOL!

Name: Gotti
Breed: American Blue Nose Pitbull
Age: 2 Years Old
Weight: 80lbs +

My cats aren't much help because they're always working on their suntans.

Very cute! Nice pitbull!
Zuzu I love the kitty all the way to the right. Is he/she a ragdoll?

Love Gotti!! He's adorable!

I voted for my cat. She's been 'helping' me garden for over 15 years. She talks to me(part siamese), rolls around, and chases crickets and grasshoppers. I'd probably work faster, she assists on being pet or she'll rub you to death, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

My little mutipoo, Chloe loves to sit in my lap as I kneel in the garden. She also likes to eat the Japanese Beetle grubs as I dig them up!

Oh! She looks just like our Muppet we had years ago. So cute.

They all have ragdoll personalities, Meredith, but their mother was a short-haired tortoise shell tabby.

My 6 dogs, one great dane scared of turtles, which one got in the yard the other night and took us three days to figure out why she would only go out the doggie door on to the step then have a barking fit, the turtle was a small one about the size of your hand and was really enjoying the bugs from the porch light but if you asked Jewels he was bigger then the house, two rockwiller crosses, they are to old and fat like their master to do much but come out and lay in a shade and sleep, a cross eyed border collie, she must chase any thing that moves expecially birds till they land then its a no no, a mutt that is one of the best rat getters I've ever had and then the baby of the bunch my boxer, that wound up being a cross, her mom is a pure bred brintle boxer and her dad is the boxer/red pit cross that lives three house's down, she looks just like him in the head and coloring, but we love her any way, she is the one that helps the most with digging and removing plants already in the ground, lol. Don't know how I got along all the years before they came into our lives, they are all rescue dogs and now rule the place. LOL. Susan

I had to vote "none of the above" because, unfortunately, my most faithful garden companions are moles.

Zuzu they are all so beautiful! I can't see the one in the middles face but I imagine it is darker like the others? Maybe their daddies were ragdolls! lol I've been wanting a ragdoll for years but they are so expensive and I tell myself the non bred kitties need homes too. : ) Here is what would be an awesome shot in a tad more light, of my two kitties. On evening patrol of the gardens. : )

Well I have to say my dog. Cats to... lol

Oh, Meredith, that photo doesn't need any more light. It's so dramatic the way it is. They're adorable cats.

The kitty in the middle of my photo actually looks most like the mother. She has some tortie markings and her mother's "split face."

My dogs and cats are all 'helpers'. My mastiff, Millie, will plant herself in front of my watering hose until I squirt her down and give her a drink. Ah well, she is the biggest 'flower' in my garden!

Susan

Just me. No cats allowed outside, and I don't even remove the fence so I can get in my flower beds to weed if the dogs are out. Everything will get trampled. No ponds around for frogs or fish. I really don't like bugs of any kind, butterflies included. No bird feeders here, really don't want to attract them, my neighbors can do that. I prefer the solitude when I am in my garden.

I spend the winter months preparing for the hummers; reading every hummingbird and garden book I own, catalog I am sent, and hummingbird site online, making very long shopping lists to make sure I have the right plants. I spend the spring raising plants from seed, preparing plant beds, cleaning pots and relining hanging baskets, buying plants at local nurseries and online, and planting hummer attractor plants. The last couple springs I have been adding more flower beds. During the summer I cruise the yard with a hose, pruners, and trowel attending to all the hummer plants blooming. Come fall, I clean out the annuals as they fade and put the perennials to bed for the winter. I also start my mental list of what worked, what needs to be switched, and what new plants I found out about at DG, for the next years planting. Late November I start working on my lists again, surfing the internet for any new tidbits of info I can find. Can you guess what I voted for?

I am hummer_girl, and it is a 24/7 job.

And they appreciate and value you highly! I am grateful to all the folks who help our wildlife survive - the critters have so many challenges.

I had to go with frogs but that should include spiders as well. I also carry any snakes I happen to catch up by my pond, out to the garden and release them there. I haven't seen a venomous snake around here.
I don't like them but I like the insects less.

I voted none of the above. My favorite gardening companion is my bottle lamb, Marshmallow. She loves to garden with me and she eats the weeds while I plant things. How convenient is that?! She is very obedient and follows me like a puppy. When I stop to work in a garden bed, she eats weeds, and then lays down for a rest until I'm ready to move on.