Spring comes early in Florida. February is a good time to check the garden for signs of butterfly eggs and newly hatched caterpillars.
Swallowtails Laying Eggs
I noticed the black swallowtail butterfly laying her eggs all over my little dill plants. Now the black caterpillars are crawling around, eating and growing.
Every day I looked to make sure I could see all three.
Monarch Caterpillars
I’ve recently discovered how bad it is to have the wrong type of milkweed growing in the yard. I have removed all of my tropical milkweed. It looks like the photo below – with red and yellow-orange flowers – and please plant native milkweed instead.
Read About the Monarch Story, and the Reasons to Plant Correctly
Pests
That’s about it for the creatures, except for the unwanted white bugs. I hand-picked / squashed a bunch of these that were hiding in the tiny new growth on my eggplant. I’m not sure what they are, but probably some kind of aphid.
Vegetables That Love February
Many of these vegetables were planted late last Fall. They survived the winter and are now beginning to love the warmer nights and not-too-hot days. I like February temperatures also. The humidity is lower and the days are sometimes hot, but bearable. A bit like a summer days in the north.
The pineapple had a lot of brown leaves. I had to cover some of these gardens when the temps dropped to near, or below, freezing.
The plants themselves are looking much better, but I’m not getting to eat from them. I have picked a few cherry tomatoes, a hot pepper here and there, and had some kale chips, which I made from my kale. I use the parsley and dill to cook, but all my basil died.
It won’t be long before the weather is too hot for the gardens to do well. I’m letting my lettuce to go seed so I can plant more next Fall. I do expect to continue to get peppers and also some eggplant soon.
Native Milkweed That Survived the Freeze
I’m still trying to fill my yard with native milkweed. After the cold spell over winter froze most things back, and killed many things, I have fewer milkweed plants. All the tropical milkweed is gone. Tropical milkweed is not native, and therefore not a great loss. Three of the four swamp milkweed seedlings I purchased…
No Cukes in the Garden, But Making Pickles
Making homemade fermented pickles, but don’t have my own cucumbers to use.
Losses and New Growth, Gardening As Always
May is a time when new growth begins after winter die-back. Also the winter garden veggies are mostly ready to pick.
Thank you for sharing!
Hydrangeas Blue 
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