tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7445073115141249182.post460151030837446492..comments2023-07-18T11:19:20.821-05:00Comments on Jim Long's Garden: Don't Kill That Caterpillar!Jim Longs Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12018979072600103985noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7445073115141249182.post-29584355552701935272013-06-13T08:52:14.212-05:002013-06-13T08:52:14.212-05:00Dyklan,
Congratulations! Having black swallowtails...Dyklan,<br />Congratulations! Having black swallowtails is one of the joys of summer. And you're correct, the caterpillars are not harmful. On fennel, the caterpillar will eat one leaf. On parsley it may eat 2 or 3 leaves, but the leaves quickly grow back.<br /><br />To have more black swallowtail butterflies, plant some more parsley, dill or fennel. That one caterpillar, when it turns into a butterfly, will come back and lay eggs to make more caterpillars, and you will soon have lots of these beautiful butterflies in your garden. No matter how many butterflies you have, the enjoyment of having them in your garden far outweighs the few leaves they eat.<br /><br />Happy gardening!<br /><br />JimJim Longs Gardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12018979072600103985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7445073115141249182.post-87060928002711107492013-06-12T20:29:07.890-05:002013-06-12T20:29:07.890-05:00I have grown herbs for about 6 years now and have ...I have grown herbs for about 6 years now and have never noticed any caterpillars on them until this evening I saw a Black Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillar on my fennel. I grow Mint, oregano, dill, fennel, sage, rosemary, thyme, lemon balm, sweet marjoram, chives, and yarrow. From reading the information on your blog, it seems that they will not harm the herbs, and I'm hoping that's the case. Can you please verify if that's so? Thank you!<br />Dylanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11827288958291322670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7445073115141249182.post-2930154197772698392011-06-17T09:49:15.751-05:002011-06-17T09:49:15.751-05:00I had to get up in front of my herb club and annou...I had to get up in front of my herb club and announce that members were killing caterpillars when they were working in the herb garden! We were trying to attract them with a pollinator and butterfly herb garden and it worked, but we should have been doing ID of caterpillars as well! Great information as always Jim!Lemon Verbena Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07157574973101829448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7445073115141249182.post-10362862521000878672011-06-13T05:47:41.884-05:002011-06-13T05:47:41.884-05:00Wonderful photo's. I'm envious of the rang...Wonderful photo's. I'm envious of the range of butterflies you have. Our Scottish selection is much smaller and the colourful ones have declined drastically in the last 30 yeas (due in part to stomping by overzealous gardeners no doubt).<br /><br />In my area every seems to be paving their gardens so they can park their cars so there is very little habitat for wildlife, though my own garden is full of insect delights (and, to be fair, horrors, which I'm sure you'd be able to fry up for lunch if you were my neighbour).<br /><br />I'd love to invite you to join the Folia garden tracking website, you'd be an absolute boon on their and I imagine you'd be a hit on the their wildlife forum groups too.<br /><br />I'd love to see you on there so here's an invite so you can look at my page to get an idea how it works and if you want to join (it's free) you can do so via the menu at the top. http://www.myfolia.com/gardener/CDfolia/invite<br /><br />It lets you add links to all other places you can be found on the web so more people would find your blog as well.CDfoliahttp://www.myfolia.com/gardener/CDfolia/invitenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7445073115141249182.post-44164690928892134792011-06-11T09:42:06.956-05:002011-06-11T09:42:06.956-05:00Great pictures!Great pictures!Myra Stilesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7445073115141249182.post-72094648643219284182011-06-10T19:11:09.160-05:002011-06-10T19:11:09.160-05:00Dear Jim,
Thank you for this posting, which is ma...Dear Jim,<br /><br />Thank you for this posting, which is marvelous and timely. Isn't it amazing that folks will kill caterpillars without a second thought? But then, many just don't realize what they're doing.<br /><br />I love this posting.<br /><br />All joys,<br /><br />SharonSharon Lovejoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04321160956925191137noreply@blogger.com