Gardeners! Share your garden photos and garden chatter here.

[terri]

I'm thinking the parsley pots could go here, when I remove the netting. There's 3 Joe Pye weed plants big enough to support a few chrysalis pods, and various other plants scattered around they could find.

The biggest Joe Pye is the one in bloom - smaller ones are just starting to bud. He's about 3 ft. tall now. The little swamp milkweed is behind it, and a couple of bee balm plants that are slowly growing, but I doubt I'll see blooms this first year.

 

[SquarePeg]

I'm thinking the parsley pots could go here, when I remove the netting. There's 3 Joe Pye weed plants big enough to support a few chrysalis pods, and various other plants scattered around they could find.

The biggest Joe Pye is the one in bloom - smaller ones are just starting to bud. He's about 3 ft. tall now. The little swamp milkweed is behind it, and a couple of bee balm plants that are slowly growing, but I doubt I'll see blooms this first year.

View attachment 267863

They’ll need to get a lot bigger. 3-4 wks is what I read from hatching to crawling off to pupate.

 

[terri]

I'll just keep watering those parsley plants and watch them get fatter, then!

 

[cgw]

The cats are officially covered, and safe from the birds! (Thanks again, @SquarePeg !)

View attachment 267862


I put a small stake in the bigger pot to keep the netting aloft.

A couple of them are getting fat, with most of them just eating and getting larger. I found one today still so small it's just black with the middle white band.

So - now I'm wondering when it's safe to set these down in the garden and remove the netting. They have to be free to crawl away to do their chrysalis thing.

I'd cater more parsley until they stop showing up--surely it won't go to waste?. You've done your duty. The rest is up to them. But then I'm building a bat house for my FIL's ancient property...They're a much-misunderstood creature.

 

[Jeff15]

 

[terri]

I'd cater more parsley until they stop showing up--surely it won't go to waste?. You've done your duty. The rest is up to them. But then I'm building a bat house for my FIL's ancient property...They're a much-misunderstood creature.

Agreed. have two parsley plants that seem to be adequate for everyone under the net. I'm looking regularly to see the condition of the plants - so far, they still look great. But I don't think they'll be able to attach their chrysalises to the top of the net so they will have to be free to leave eventually.

Apparently a lot of people bring them indoors and give them little aquariums to live in, and just throw down parsley leaves. Dunno about that, but it seems aquariums are good for supporting the chrysalis- they all start crawling upwards when they're ready, and use the top.

But then I'm building a bat house for my FIL's ancient property...They're a much-misunderstood creature.

That's awesome. I love bats! We used to watch them swooping and diving from the porch in Georgia.

They've been in serious decline for years now due to this nasty fungus. They are important little critters who deserve all the help they can get.

 

[jeffashman]

With the Avacado and Salvia dead, I got some more Pentas and a Celosia. Both are heat tolerant as long as they are watered in a timely manner.

Pentas
aug06202301 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Celosia
aug06202303 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Mother-of-thousands
aug06202305 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Coleus and Caladiums
aug06202306 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

 

[SquarePeg]

With the Avacado and Salvia dead, I got some more Pentas and a Celosia. Both are heat tolerant as long as they are watered in a timely manner.

Pentas
aug06202301 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Celosia
aug06202303 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Mother-of-thousands
aug06202305 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Coleus and Caladiums
aug06202306 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Amazing color. Very pretty foliage on that last one.

 

[SquarePeg]

Well @terri, I thought there were 4 cats on the fennel but today I see there are 7. They are 3rd instar phase according to this site so I guess I missed the other 3 when I checked on them. They camouflage amazingly well on the fennel despite their advanced size.

A different look — for a good reason

I was excited to find what I thought was a different species of swallowtail caterpillar on the dill plants in the back yard the other day — black with yellow spots. But then a closer look rev…

bybio.wordpress.com

Here they are under the net.

 

[jeffashman]

Amazing color. Very pretty foliage on that last one.

The last one was a plant that Daniel and his girlfriend had purchased, but I ended up taking care of. The larger, darker one is only half the plant, the other half is in a similar planter on the other side of the walkway. When temps drop, I'll take clippings, dip them in rooting powder, and grow those indoors, since coleus will die with the first frost. I'll also propagate the lighter colored coleus, although right now it only has one stem. Unfortunately, the caladiums in the background won't survive the winter, but there is also moses-in-a-boat in the planters, and that should winter over ok, unless it gets really, really cold.

 

[terri]

With the Avacado and Salvia dead, I got some more Pentas and a Celosia. Both are heat tolerant as long as they are watered in a timely manner.

Pentas
aug06202301 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Celosia
aug06202303 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Mother-of-thousands
aug06202305 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Coleus and Caladiums
aug06202306 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

For as hot as it's been this summer down there, you still have some beautiful color! I think pollinators like the pentas, too.

 

[terri]

Well @terri, I thought there were 4 cats on the fennel but today I see there are 7. They are 3rd instar phase according to this site so I guess I missed the other 3 when I checked on them. They camouflage amazingly well on the fennel despite their advanced size.

A different look — for a good reason

I was excited to find what I thought was a different species of swallowtail caterpillar on the dill plants in the back yard the other day — black with yellow spots. But then a closer look rev…

bybio.wordpress.com

View attachment 267915

Here they are under the net.

View attachment 267916

Great pictures!! Mine look like 3rd instar, as well - bordering on pre-pupa. I'm glad to see this chart - very informative.

Still several crawling around that are much younger, though. They're easier to spot when they're mostly black, I agree.

It poured here today, so I haven't looked at them. I'm adding another stake or two soon, to keep the netting high off the plants. It's fun to watch the little critters!

 

[SquarePeg]

Great pictures!! Mine look like 3rd instar, as well - bordering on pre-pupa. I'm glad to see this chart - very informative.

Still several crawling around that are much younger, though. They're easier to spot when they're mostly black, I agree.

It poured here today, so I haven't looked at them. I'm adding another stake or two soon, to keep the netting high off the plants. It's fun to watch the little critters!

From the quick reading I did today, I found out that swallowtails can over winter in cold climates in their chrysalis! I think these still have time to pupate and then emerge well before the cokd weather gets here. It’s thought that they determine whether to come out or wait based on how many hours of daylight their body can sense while in the chrysalis. My current plan is to leave them under the netting with the bottom open and several wooden sticks in there for them to attach to or they can crawl out and wander on their own. I’ll move the sticks into the garden once they pupate so they can emerge when they’re ready and go on their way without getting stuck in the netting.

I’m glad I netted them as we suddenly have a lot of yellow jackets buzzing around. Must be a nest somewhere close.

 

[SquarePeg]

Terri found this post that seems could be helpful to our situations.

 

[cgw]

"Sidonie" showing off after last night's rains. Knowing her lineage, family lovingly calls her the "French Biatch" for her habit of scratching anyone who takes liberties. Muggy and buggy here today for garden work. Civic holiday for us!