We're settling into our new Florida home. Unlike my old Queens NY
home, I don't have a fenced in backyard here so I can't let the cats
out. Oh, I might eventually fence in part of the yard and let them out
in that, but the development takes care of the outside so if you fence
in part of it, you have to take care of it. I'd prefer not to do that.

I'm thinking of a movable fence, so I can let them out sometimes and
then roll the fence up, but that's fairly complicated.

But I do have an atrium. It's around 6' by 10', (2 * 3 meters or so)
and is open to the sky. Right now it's just partly gravel and partly
mulch, with only one plant, a nice multicolored bushy thing. There is
a sliding glass door that opens into it from the dining room.
Supposedly local pet stores sell some piece of glass that I can use as
a pet door. I don't want to let them into it yet since currently it
resembles a giant litter box.

What kind of plants would the cats like in there? Catnip? That could
be a mess. What to avoid? I don't want to poison them, but of course
they used to go out into a yard that had lots of strange stuff and
they never got poisoned. Lots of outdoor cats avoid getting poisoned.

I wonder if a gardener would know how to set that up? I can't be the
first one to wonder about it.