Sunday, July 5, 2009

Welcome to Our Fritillery Factory

The garden is looking pretty ratty. It has been so hot that the only job that is getting done every day is watering. The dill and parsley are going...going...gone to seed. They need to be pulled up and composted. The passion vine has taken over the back fence, several trees and a swing set. It needs to be cut back. A few days ago, I pulled up a dill only to find a little swallowtail caterpillar on it. I put the baby back on another dill and left them all alone. Tonight, I went out to hack back the passion vine only to find it covered up in Gulf Fritillery caterpillars. When I checked on the parsley, looking for more black swallowtails. I found a Gulf Fritillery butterfly drying its wings and getting ready to fly. I hope all of these caterpillars chew the passion vine back significantly. That would make my gardening job a lot easier.

The flowers in the collage are passion flowers and Turk's cap.

Can you see the eggs in one of the pictures in the collage? Posted by Picasa