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| Swallowtail Caterpillar eating Parsley |
Ok, first let me preface this post with the fact that I love butterflies! Now on to the other stuff...as many of you know, I have a garden that has been doing well for a while. And while the heat has taken it's toll on some plants, others are still doing quite well. Enter the Swallowtail Butterfly. I first noticed them on one of my roses.
I tend to do a walk around of my plants every couple of days and this particular yellow rose was doing well. 2 days later, the whole thing was defoliated minus 4 or 5 leaves. When my son and I went to inspect, we turned the leaves over only to find them brimming with caterpillars. We killed them in despair. I hated it, but hated to see my rose suffer. Luckily, it is just now starting to come back.
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Just now coming back...
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| Pepper next to parsley... |
Then, today, as I went to look at the garden, more had taken over! The parsley was totally gone and the pepper plant that has produced some really nice peppers was starting to be eaten. I did some quick research only to discover that caterpillars are attracted to and lay their eggs in parsley. I guess I will have to leave that plant out of the garden next year:-(
At least some of the close neighboring plants did not suffer and are doing well. It looks like the eggplant will make it through the heat as well which is great!!!
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| Eggplant!!! And, yes, I need to weed:-) |
I'm hoping the beneficial bugs will arrive to you this week and maybe they'll help your veggies at least. I've always said that farmers are the biggest gamblers in the world. So gardening ranks in there too. Cabbage worms are at my kale, if it starts showing new growth, I'll know the beneficials are working.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mom, for the bugs! I am looking forward to a good time to "plant" them:-) I am not a gambler, but have taken some big chances in the past two years. Hopefully, at least, the garden will take off:-)
ReplyDeleteJim