Black Swallowtail Caterpillars, Sunset, Moonrise & Ice Cream

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I’ve always wanted to have black swallowtail caterpillars in my flower beds. They’re so bright and pretty and make beautiful butterflies.
My blogging buddy Patti has a flower bed and posts pretty photos of the black swallowtail caterpillars. I asked her about them. She told me to plant fennel for them.
The only fennel I could find is a bronze fennel. I bought 4 peat pots of them. I planted 2 in my herb bed and 2 in one of my small flower beds. The 2 in the herb bed are flourishing, but the 2 fennel plants in my flower bed are slow growing.

The fennel in my herb bed is where the caterpillars are. There’s oodles of the lovely critters munching in the fennel.
“Thank you so very much Patti! I’m glad I listened to you.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t plan the ones in the herb bed very well because I bet the birds who come to bath in our bird baths will eat up all the caterpillars. But the birds haven’t eaten them all so far, so maybe a few of the caterpillars will mature into butterflies.However, Maybe the fennel in my small flower bed by the porch will take a growth spurt and the butterflies will lay some eggs on them. The birds never are in that flower bed because my rain chain and dangly chain keeps them scared off.

Oh yes and also, I planted a small dill plant in the herb bed and was surprised to see that it has 2 black swallowtail caterpillars on it. I didn’t know the caterpillars would hatch and grow on dill. Cool!~*~
June 1 2017 had a glorious fiery sunset.
It was a beautiful sight to see.

~*~
June 2, 2017 was clear and the moon in it’s first quarter stood out clearly in the early-evening blue sky.~*~
Oh one more thing, we won the lottery! That’s right folks our ticket brought in a whopping $2.00.
We were selfish and blew the whole winnings on a couple of vanilla ice cream cones.
The ice cream was a rare fun treat and a tasty way to enjoy our lottery winnings.

Wishing you all joy and fun
and oodles of good fortune.

.

14 thoughts on “Black Swallowtail Caterpillars, Sunset, Moonrise & Ice Cream”

  1. I had no idea they were called black swallowtail caterpillars . I was out for a walk one day and I took some amazing photos of these. I’ve never seen them in my garden but are often in the wild area adjacent.

    Now I know what they are I can add them to my pinterest page!

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    • That’s so neat Piglet
      I’ve never seen the caterpillars in the wild or anywhere except pictures of them up until this year.
      I didn’t realize that Portugal had some of the same species of butterflies as are in the USA. That’s so cool. I hope you take some of photos of them and post some on your blog.
      🙂

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  2. I always wondered what would potentially attract black swallowtail caterpillars! When I was still in PA I planted milkweed for the monarchs and always wanted to find out what could attract others. I will have to get myself a notebook to jot down little tidbits like this for the someday home I hope to be able to settle into permanently in a few years. I am determined to some day have the space for a garden and flower beds to make it beautiful!

    I can’t say I blame you for spending your fortune on ice cream – it looks delicious! I don’t think there are any good soft serve places around here. If there are I just have not seen or heard of them yet.

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    • Thanks CW
      The notebook is a great idea. I think it’s interesting how different species of butterflies are attracted to specific plants and flowers. I bet once you get started, that you’ll be able to grow a gorgeous butterfly garden.
      Soft serve ice cream is treat. I hope you can find a place in your area. It’s fun to take a fun-break and relax with a fresh cone of ice cream. 🙂

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  4. Two ice cream cones for $2! That’s a steal! Glad you have caterpillars! I think they are attracted to plants in the carrot family–dill is in that category, too. Most of my fennel is green, but one year I added a couple bronze for variety. They have really taken off this year, I hope we have lots of caterpillars. Yes, the birds can be a problem, but they need protein, too. God makes enough for every purpose. Beautiful sky shots.

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    • Thanks so much Patti
      The Sonic in our area sells $1.00 ice cream cones. I was quite surprised to see the low price on a normal size ice cream cone. It was a tasty discovery.
      I have you to thank for telling me what plant I needed to attract them. I really appreciate that. We enjoy the caterpillars. My husband found a couple eggs on the fennel in our small flower bed, so hopefully it’ll have caterpillars soon that’ll be more protected from the birds. I love the way you look at the birds and the caterpillars situation. It made my heart smile because I totally agree God makes enough for every purpose.
      Again I say, Thanks so very much!
      Have a wonderful week.
      🙂

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  5. I am so glad to learn about the caterpillars! This means another shopping trip for plants. :~) Of course, I love the sunset picture…just beautiful! And, congrats on winning the lottery!!

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  6. Thanks so much Mary
    I bet you could attract a kaleidoscope of butterflies in your majestic area. I plan to buy some more dill and maybe so more fennel if I can find them. It’s kind of mid-season here for the stores and nurseries.
    Thanks so much. The sunset picture is one of my favorites too.
    Thanks for the congrats on my fun lottery win.
    🙂

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