If you are growing peppers, check often for the tomato hornworm. These caterpillars can eat a lot if unchecked.
Because I am not so great at pepper growing, I have never had to worry about the hornworm eating my peppers. I have had them on my tomatoes and eggplant.
My son is growing some hot peppers in Home Depot buckets. This is where the hornworms are currently congregating. I’ve already picked off five of these squishy, green guys. And they really hang on!
Personally, I think this is one of the coolest looking caterpillars. They can get very big, and they can eat a plant down to almost nothing.
HornwormHornworm #2
Apparently, hot pepper plants don’t bother these guys. Both caterpillars in my photos are eating Cayenne pepper leaves, but I’ve picked some worms from the super hot Carolina Reaper as well.
The Carolina Reaper is one of the hottest peppers out there. My son has one green pepper on the plant. It will be turning red before he will carefully pick it to make hot sauce. This pepper is sold by the PuckerButt Pepper Company and was created by Ed Currie. It registers between 1.6 – 2 million on the Scoville pepper heat scale. For example, a jalapeño is between 2,500 – 8,000.
Ed currently has one that is hotter called Pepper X.
We found these hot pepper plants for sale at the local Home Depot. My son is really into hot peppers, and the plants are all doing well. I look forward to using the cayenne peppers. With a Scoville rating of 30K – 50K, it’s about the hottest I can do.
Hot peppers in bucketsCarolina Reaper pepperHornworm
If leaves are disappearing from your tomato, pepper, or eggplant, look for the hornworm. He is sometimes easiest spotted above a little pile of brown poop on a leaf.
Once I pull the hornworm off the host plant, I deposit it into the yard. That way birds can have a treat. He won’t die for nothing.
With all the various types of lizards here in Florida, do Monarch caterpillars stand a much of a chance of becoming butterflies?
All I know is what I am seeing in my own little yard, but it’s not hopeful. I’ve seen many caterpillars form and munch on milkweed. They are not around for long, and I blame the abundance of lizards in my yard.
Nature is trying to adjust to all the invasive species, and honestly I think it is losing. Now, there are brown lizards which are invasive. Between those and the normal green anoles, the caterpillars don’t seem to stand a chance.
I’ve been growing and planting milkweed to feed the Monarchs but all I seem to be doing is providing food for lizards.
Green anoleBrown lizard
I’ve watched caterpillars crawl on the Milkweed. They get to various sizes and then they are simply gone.
Monarch caterpillar on milkweedRosemary and Milkweed
The whole time I watched this caterpillar grow he went from milkweed to the rosemary and back again. They seem to like hiding out in the rosemary. Back in April a caterpillar crossed my yard to build a chrysalis on the rosemary plant.
I was beginning to think that maybe this guy was big enough to survive. Finally, a yellow wasp came down and stung him and knocked him off the milkweed! He was happily chowing down on a leaf and I saw the wasp come in and pop him. He ended up crawling down the side of the pot. He was down there for a while, but the next time I looked, he was nowhere to be found.
Black Swallowtail Caterpillars
Little black swallowtail caterpillars were all over my dill plants. I snapped these photos one day in May. The next morning when I looked for them, the caterpillars were all gone.
Although I think it’s unfair that no butterflies get a chance to form, it is not something I can change. Some people raise monarchs inside, but I am not about to do that. Many years ago I saw a black swallowtail butterfly emerge from a chrysalis. I had some parsley growing at the time. It is the only swallowtail I’ve seen make a chrysalis.
I can’t see everything, so maybe a lot of them do pupate. The Monarch caterpillars do tend to crawl to other plants and things. I’m only viewing them for a short time each day.
I do want to fill my yard with plants that accommodate butterflies and caterpillars. I can’t help what happens during their transformation. These plants also feed other critters. And the caterpillars are food for lizards and wasp babies I suppose. Who am I to say how it should go?
Happy June, and here are some photos of the wonderful insects visiting my small Central Florida garden.
First I want to update readers on my Monarch butterflies. Yes, mine. I watched a couple of them hatch so I feel like their mom. I had three flying around the yard for quite a while, then one was found dead on the ground. After that I had two. After a while another showed up, and now there are four!
Each day, around 9AM they begin to fly. They circle the garden, fly over the lot next door, over the roof, and back. I think they’ve become used to seeing me, and fly right over my head. At least I like to think that. They are certainly enjoying the milkweed.
Monarchs
Monarch caterpillarcaterpillar camouflage Big milkweed plant
This morning I got a few photos of my monarchs on the tropical milkweed. This plant will not die back in fall, so I will need to cut it. For now, it’s one of the only flowering milkweeds in the yard. I need it for the butterflies because they love it.
Tropical milkweed is not a Florida native. Read more about it on this page. I have also been growing new milkweeds, that are all native to the state. My plan to fill the yard with good types of milkweed (for the Monarchs, who only lay eggs on milkweed) is coming to pass.
Whorled milkweedWhite swamp milkweed
I’m slowly getting some of my milkweed seedlings into the ground. The rain has quit here, or goes around us, so I’m constantly watering once again. One of my Whorled milkweed seedings is in the ground along with the White swamp variety.
A Tiny Drawback
Caterpillars keep showing up on the smallest of milkweed plants. And they move from one to another. Maybe they like munching on those tender little leaves, but the plants are being destroyed! Of course, it’s why I’m growing them in the first place – to feed the Monarch caterpillars.
These caterpillars are sneaky. They show up out of nowhere and then they disappear. I found one on the side of a pot. Then, they come back from wherever and begin eating again.
Chow timeA few minutes ago this stem had leavescaterpillar camouflage
I have surrounded these little milkweed plants with rosemary, dahlias and other things to hopefully keep things from eating the caterpillars. Between the lizards, wasps and birds, most caterpillars don’t make it. They eat all the leaves off the plants and then become food for something. I guess that’s the way it goes. Everything has to eat.
Desert Rose Bee Diving
A beautiful bee showed up the other morning. I watched him crawl way down inside each trumpet-shaped, Desert Rose flower. I don’t think he missed a single bloom!
Although this plant has a “desert” name, it grows great here in Central Florida. I’ve had it in this pot for years. It requires very little maintenance and has the brightest pink flowers.
Giant Swallowtails
As I was writing this article, I happened to see two Eastern Giant Swallowtail butterflies outside my window! The photos are not good, but I am sharing them to prove they were here – haha. The two of them flew together around the orange tree and then off into the yard. I am not good when it comes to photographing moving targets, but wanted to share these photos anyway. To see this butterfly better view the Wikipedia page and iNaturalist.
That’s it for now. Soon, I’ll be sharing about my success at growing a spaghetti squash. It was so tasty! Also, the Seminole pumpkin vines are getting long, and I’ve found one little pumpkin beginning to grow. That is exciting!
Planting the coral honeysuckle with a new obelisk for support.
A Florida native plant that I’ve wanted in the yard for some time is the Coral Honeysuckle. A tiny plant was part of my mail order selection, but the plant arrived very tiny. I’m not sure I would live long enough to see it reach a great height!
After putting my Lee Valley Obelisk (large size) together, I needed a plant to go with it. At my local nursery there were many Coral Honeysuckle plants that looked great. I chose one, popped it into my little car, and planted it the following day.
The hole was easy to dig, once I removed all the roots growing under the sand. Here in Florida, rocks are not a problem when digging, but you may come across pieces of concrete that were left behind from the building of the house.
When checking out at the nursery, the woman talked me into getting a little bag of fertilizer to add to the hole. I also mixed in some of my own compost and a bit of Happy Frog, with the sand. BUT…. before I added dirt back into the hole, I placed my obelisk around the plant. That way the poles were down nice and far into the ground.
I also planted the tiny, mail order plant right next to the bigger plant.
Spot is chosenDigging roots and sandMixing good stuff into the soilOld staking system
Once the plant was in the ground, I undid the ties holding the old trellis system. Three bamboo stakes were tied for the vine to wrap around. I planned to remove the bamboo completely, but decided to leave it in place. Much of the honeysuckle was already firmly wrapped around them.
I will train the vines to continue up the trellis. Once it gets tall, the hummingbirds should love it. I haven’t had hummingbirds since the Firespike plant lost its red flowers. Honeysuckle can loose its leaves in cold locations, but grows well in the entire state of Florida, Zones 4-10. It will bloom all Spring and Summer!
Once the mulch was down, I gave this new plant a good soaking with three fills of my Haws watering can.
Once the Coral Honeysuckle is established, it shouldn’t need much attention. I’ll keep it pruned to fit the round trellis.
Coral honeysuckle flower
The rainy season is here, and with our regular afternoon storms, this plant should do quite well.
A daily check on the milkweed revealed interesting bug activity. It appears that the aphids are bringing the ladybugs.
Each day I check the milkweed for caterpillars. Although there have been some spotted, I’m seeing other bug activity.
One, tall dill plant is growing next to the milkweed and it is covered in tiny pests. I only just realized how bad it is. These little critters look like aphids. The milkweed has a few yellow aphids also. Last night I counted four ladybugs in the area, with some little yellow ladybug eggs on a dill leaf.
Also, in the same area, I spotted a milkweed bug and shiny blue leaf beetle on the tropical milkweed plant. A yellow paper wasp was also spotted, and I need to check for a nest in the vicinity. With an increase in stinging bugs, I’ll have my Apis Mel (paid link) handy.
When tiny caterpillars were on my new white Swamp milkweed plant, I transferred them to the tropical milkweed. I don’t like to mess with nature, but the original plant was too small to accommodate any caterpillars. I think the eggs may have been there when I bought the plant.
I ended up putting three tiny caterpillars onto the bigger milkweed plant. I’ve seen only one caterpillar that had grown larger, and now that one seems to have disappeared. I think the lizards are eating them.
Little swamp milkweed plants
Sure enough, I searched for info and found that lizards – both invasive (brown) and the green anoles – will eat the caterpillars and butterflies. So now I have a new problem. I want to feed the Monarchs, but my yard is full of lizards.
Are These Bugs Good or Bad?
I’m no bug expert, but I do know ladybugs are good guys. They eat aphids and when the eggs hatch, the ladybug larvae will also eat the aphids. I’ve seen red ladybugs with lots of black spots and also orange ladybugs with no spots.
Orange spotless ladybugBlack spotted red ladybug
The milkweed bug feeds on flowers and seeds of the milkweed plant. The milkweed assassin bug looks similar, and is a beneficial that will not feed on the plant, but kills unwanted pests. I haven’t seen one of those yet. As far as that pretty blue beetle, I have no information.
The dill plant is one of many that I have all over the garden. Dill is very easy to grow where I live, and I always save seeds each year. As summer closes in, the dill flowers turn to seed and often the plants get infested with aphids. Each year I hope for ladybugs, but never seem to have enough to deal with all the pests.
The dill plants are also good for attracting black swallowtails. Fennel is another plant where I’ve found lots of caterpillars in the past. I rarely get a butterfly as the lizards eat Swallowtail caterpillars too.
Many tiny swallowtail caterpillars on a fennel flower headSwallowtail caterpillars
For now, I am simply observing the happenings. Without caterpillars, the tropical milkweed is growing like mad. The Monarch butterflies are still around and laying eggs, so we’ll see what happens.
I’ve found a good place to buy milkweed plants online. Ordering plants online can be expensive, so the plants that arrive should be in great shape. Read my review of Whitwam Organics and The Growers Exchange.
I need to get this recorded because I found a mail order company that sends nice plants. Here I am comparing the two companies that mailed me milkweed plants. The Growers Exchange and Whitwam Organics were the two I chose.
After my butterflies came out, I see all three of the Monarchs flying around the garden every day! The only milkweed currently available for them is the tropical type, and one small, blooming white Swamp Milkweed.
Tropical milkweed w Monarch caterpillarWhite Swamp Milkweed with aphidsWhite swamp flowers
The more milkweed in the yard, the better chance for caterpillars to have enough food. At one time I believed that the Tropical milkweed was bad, but that may not be altogether true. Read more at the link.
The Need for More Milkweed
I ordered some seeds from Johnny Butterfly Seed. Those are popping up in small pots and beginning to grow nicely. Growing from seed can take a while. I wanted plants.
You may be wondering why I don’t buy local milkweed at a nursery. Well, for one it’s hard to find, and when I do see native varieties, the plants are not in good shape. The white flowering milkweed, in my first photos on this page, came from a local nursery. I bought the best looking milkweed plant and it was around $10. It’s looking good, but growing very slowly. I have no idea if it was grown organically, without chemicals. So, I began the online search for pesticide free plants.
Whitwam Organics
This post is about my order of live plants from two places. The first plants arrived from Whitwam Organics. They e-mailed a notice about delivery, and the plants ended up at my door at 8:00 at night! I suppose I can’t blame the company for the late delivery, but unboxing live plants at that hour really ticked me off. The plants are; a Coral Bean, Coral Honeysuckle, and Orange Butterflyweed (milkweed).
Whitwam packingWhitwam wrapped milkweedWhitwam plant in bagDaylight photo: Milkweed, coral bean, Coral honeysuckle from Whitwam Organics
The Whitwam plants were unboxed in the house, until sand began to come out all over. I took them outback to finish and set them inside on the porch for overnight.
The photo above was taken the next day. The packing was sufficient, but nothing special. Plastic wrap mostly kept the soil in the pots and then the entire plant was closed up in a paper bag. The soil is more like Florida sand than potting soil. The dirt you see in the big photo is after I filled in what was lost when the dry sand poured out. All three plants look okay, but they are small. The Milkweed has lost a few leaves.
Cost: $42.57 which includes shipping and tax. Not really worth it IMO as these plants are very small.
Growers Exchange Milkweed Seedling Order
I ordered four Pink Swamp Milkweed from The Growers Exchange. These were not labeled organic, but the site says they do not use any chemicals when growing. The site offers lots of herbs and medicinal herbs, but they also have a few varieties of milkweed.
I was very impressed with the boxing and size of these milkweed. (This milkweed is a different variety than the one shown above from the other company.)
All four plants were wrapped around the pot to keep dirt in place. Each pot was tucked inside a cardboard divider which kept the pot in place during travel. The plants were so tall that the tops were bent over to fit. They straightened up completely within two days.
Unboxing nice big plantsStems have straightened
After unwrapping, I watered them, and set them on the porch, out of direct sun, for two days. After that they went outside for a couple of days. Now I have two in the ground, and two in larger pots.
Swamp milkweed likes it wet, which makes sense. Especially while it is setting roots, I want to keep it well watered. Our drought continues, which means I water every day.
Swamp milkweed in the groundTwo milkweed planted
I am absolutely impressed with this milkweed plant order. They offered a discount of 20% (I think it was), and the total for these four plants, with $15 shipping was $50.89. The plants are healthy and large and I am happy. I’ve already seen lady bugs and the Monarch on these!
I’m considering having a herb garden in the future. I need to learn more about when to plant which herbs. The Growers Exchange might be my go-to shop for those.
How to Care for Live Plants
Both companies mentioned here has fairly quick shipping. I’d say the plants arrived in about a week’s time. Shipping also depends on the growing zone, and time of year. Each company has it’s own information.
I’ve pretty much mentioned on this page how I cared for the plants when they arrived, but here’s a recap. Unbox immediately. Check the soil and re-fill if necessary. Water them well! Here in Florida, do not set them out in the sun right away. Due to the stress of being packed and traveling for days, give them an easy life in the beginning. Give them light, but no direct sun. Keep them watered and watch for signs of disease.
Have you purchased native, organic (or chemical free) local milkweed – or other plants – online? Please leave us a comment on how it went.
Hydrangeas Blue 