For the literary buffs out there, you may be familiar with the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. You may not know that the character of Dill in the book is actually based on her childhood friend, Truman Capote, another great American novelist and whom I like to think of as the father of crime fiction, which I love. ; ) He wrote In Cold Blood--one of my favorite books ever.
Anway....so, I was checking out my dill plants that I planted from seed this year.
Dill has a very thin, feather foliage to it and beautiful yellow blooms. Admittedly, I planted it mostly so I could cut the blooms (I have a cut-flower problem). If you are familiar with the culinary uses of herbs, dill would be used for things like dill pickles. Makes sense, right? : )
So, upon closer inspection of my dill, I noticed some visitors.
That would be the larvae of the black swallowtail butterfly. Pretty colorful for a caterpillar, don't you think?
The very first time I saw these guys munching my herbs several years ago, it freaked me out and I was aghast! Since learning that they are a larvae for a beautiful butterfly species, I plant dill just for them. It is one of their favorites....along with parsley, which is what the little guy up above is eating.
If you like planting herbs, it's nice to plant a little dill and parsley for yourself and some extra for the butterflies.
My mom gets them on her dill all the time! But she gets rid of them, because they eat it all and she wants it. :) I don't even want to think about how she gets rid of them. Ewwww.....
ReplyDeleteIs there something you can plant - far away from the house (like several miles) - that would attract all the spiders? Thanks.
ReplyDelete