Butterflies

Right, I said that I was going to deal with other subjects in my next posts. But I found a neat caterpillar on one of the fennel plants in our garden. I think that it will become a black swallowtail butterfly next spring.

I learned something that anyone who wants a butterfly garden should know. Having plants that attract butterflies for nectar is not enough to insure you will have lots of them next year. You also have to have food plants for their larvae nearby. Monarchs prefer milkweed. Swallowtails like fennel. Most of them will not lay eggs on plants that their caterpillars can not use for food.

One butterfly expert suggested taking the food plants in pots and placing them near the nectar plants... having your bar and restaurant next to each other. If you do it that way, you may also want to build a little butterfly house around the food plant. Then when the caterpillar forms its chrysalis and mutates into the winged form, you can watch and the butterfly will be able to dry its wings without the danger of being picked off by a passing bird. You will also have the experience of releasing those lovely things into your garden again.