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A new season of growth begins...
(and I'm staying away from the bathroom scale)
A couple of days ago, I noticed a tiny swallowtail caterpillar on one of the newly-leafed-out wild fennel plants. Today the plant was all adroop. The stem had broken off somehow. I couldn't find the caterpillar :( but I did find a swallowtail egg :D I've never seen an actual egg! I tucked the dying plant in amongst the foliage of the others, so the hatching caterpillar will be able to find a good feeding ground.
The milkweed plants are well-leafed too, which is good, because I counted eight monarch caterpillars in the big pot, ranging from .5 to 1.5 cm (1/5 to 3/5 of an inch) in length, vigorously chomping away. No paper wasps in sight yet. Fingers crossed, fingers crossed...
A couple of days ago, I noticed a tiny swallowtail caterpillar on one of the newly-leafed-out wild fennel plants. Today the plant was all adroop. The stem had broken off somehow. I couldn't find the caterpillar :( but I did find a swallowtail egg :D I've never seen an actual egg! I tucked the dying plant in amongst the foliage of the others, so the hatching caterpillar will be able to find a good feeding ground.
The milkweed plants are well-leafed too, which is good, because I counted eight monarch caterpillars in the big pot, ranging from .5 to 1.5 cm (1/5 to 3/5 of an inch) in length, vigorously chomping away. No paper wasps in sight yet. Fingers crossed, fingers crossed...
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diamondscats were a girl's best friend :(I wasn't nearly as pissed off at paper wasps before I found out they were eating "my" caterpillars, although I tried to discourage them even then to help protect Missy, who in her younger days liked nothing better to stalk bees. (I grabbed her a couple of times before she could pounce on one.) Their nests are under the eaves and way high up, but on my house, at least, the Argentine ants raid them and wipe them out very quickly. (Probably the first and only positive thing I'll ever say about Argentine ants.) Apparently, though, they are still nesting somewhere locally.
I'm trying to keep the fennel stalks shorter this year, so that if I feel the need to go spray at wasps on the flowers with Windex, I'll actually be able to reach them.
How are you, by the way?
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Ever watch Billy the Exterminator? He used something called pi-reath-ra? Pyreathra? It's from a flower and it's non toxic to humans and animals. I need to get my hands on it. Good for killing wasps. I also hear if you paint your eaves the color if sky blue they won't nest thinking it is the sky.
How are you?
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I also hear if you paint your eaves the color if sky blue they won't nest thinking it is the sky.
I laughed at that, but then I googled. Huh, maybe it does work. Although, if they're looking for someplace dark and less visible, any light color might work.
Here's an article I found interesting: Top Ten Natural Insect Repellents I like the idea of fake wasp nests, although I don't know how well it works.
I'm OK, more or less. Not doing much -- just gardening, taking pictures, counting caterpillars and spoiling the cat.
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