Monday, June 21, 2010

The Weeding Stops Here




We have been working our way along the bed in front of the house, weeding and moving plants to other locations or to compost. Work was going fine. The curved wall was in sight. BANG! All work in this area came to a screeching halt.



This little guy and his brothers and sisters are to blame. Here, just like Sierra club member sitting in front of a bulldozer, black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars cause a work stoppage. Dill is one of the plants that is given lots of space here. I dry some for winter and use some fresh, but it's because I know dill draws those beautiful butterflies that I have so much trouble pulling it out. Flowers that attract butterflies are great, but the favorite caterpillar food dramatically increases our number of butterflies. Note to myself: Don't procrastinate, get that dill where you want it before the middle of June.

2 comments:

Kathy said...

How great to see this caterpillar! Sorry it stopped your work but glad you did.

Liz said...

How exciting!

I wish swallowtails were more common over here, but they're just so rare to come across!