Tag: dill

Monitoring Milkweed for Caterpillars and Pest Activity

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.

Red and black ladybug on stem of dill covered in aphids
Orange and black Milkweed bug on buds of tropical milkweed plant
Milkweed bug
yellow paper wasp on milkweed
Paper wasp
spotted red ladybug on aphid infested dill plant
Spotted ladybug
yellow ladybug eggs on dill leaf
Ladybug eggs
shiny blue leaf-beetle on tropical milkweed leaf.
Leaf beetle?
Milkweed bug and ladybug on tropical milkweed plant

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.

Tiny Monarch caterpillar on underside of milkweed leaf.
swamp milkweed plants in pots
Little swamp milkweed plants
two baby monarch caterpillars on milkweed leaves.

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 ladybug
Black 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.

Swallowtail larvae on fennel flowers
Many tiny swallowtail caterpillars on a fennel flower head
swallowtail caterpillars
Swallowtail 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.

Welcome fellow gardeners…

This is Why I Leave the Dill Alone

If you have an aphid infestation, check regularly for ladybug eggs, larvae and pupa on the plants.

I believe in not being too quick to clean up the garden. It is June, and my old, aphid-filled dill plants are now full of ladybug larvae! This is why I leave plants up after they have grown, bloomed and begun to die.

Dill is one of the great herbs to grow in the garden. Some of my plants have come up on their own. When I see them growing I just leave them. The flowers are gorgeous and feed bees and butterflies. The seeds are easy to gather and save, and black swallowtail butterflies lay eggs here.

yellow dill flower with wasp
Dill flower
dill caterpillars

Dill does not like the extreme Florida summer heat and the plants are done flowering by June. The seeds have formed, and I did cut one big head off to save the seeds for next Spring. The rest, are still on the plants, which now look pretty awful.

Aphids have found the old dill plant and it is covered in them! But there are also many ladybug larvae and even a ladybug or two.

Aphids and larvae
old dill plant
Old dill is full of aphids, which ladybugs love!

The day I saw all this larvae, I counted 15 little guys crawling around. They are tiny, and hard to see in the mess of aphids, so there might be even more.

The next day I realized they were beginning to attach and hang – going into the pupa stage.

four ladybug larvae attaching
curled ladybug larvae
ladybug larvae on dill
ladybug larvae hanging
Becoming pupa
Next day
Larvae to pupa

A few days later the new ladybugs were crawling all over the dried dill stalks.

Newly hatched ladybug exploring the dried dill seeds

Ladybugs on the Hon Tsai Flowering Broccoli

Just a few weeks before the dill ladybugs were noticed, I had watched ladybugs come out of their pupa stage on my Hon Tsai flowering broccoli plant. It was setting seeds, and had some aphids at the top. This was a random plant that grew late in the season.

Ladybugs feed on aphids, so they lay eggs where the “babies” aka larvae, will be able to get food.

Just out of the pupa
newly hatched spotted ladybug
The spotted one

Four ladybugs hatched from their “shells” which were attached to the seed stems of this plant. Three ladybugs were solid orange, and one had loads of black spots.

ladybug just hatched
Newly hatched ladybug!

Dill is Feeding the Caterpillars

Even though the dill plants have mostly died and are drying up, I have found two caterpillars on one of them.

There is not much left for them to eat. I’m very surprised that the cardinals have not picked them off by now. I check on the beauties every day, but I have big doubts that they will reach pupa stage.

*Update: the next day one caterpillar was gone and the day after the other one was gone too. I suspect birds needed a meal.

black swallowtail caterpillars
black swallowtail caterpillars
black swallowtail caterpillars
black swallowtail caterpillars
This guy is so pretty, he almost looks fake.

This is a reminder to look closely at what is happening in the garden. Before you decide to rip out that old plant, consider what creatures might need it for shelter, eggs, or food.

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Garden Stories

Stories from the backyard garden

One of the most fun things about gardening is seeing the changes day by day. Each morning I go out and check on things. I look for what is growing, what is being eaten, and what new bugs have arrived.

The caterpillars on the dill were doing great, until the cardinals spotted them. Those cardinals have eagle eyes and will pick off bugs and worms in no time.

dill caterpillars

Water Source For Bugs

Small bugs and butterflies appreciate a water source that is shallow. Leaving little containers around the garden can help them find water.

water source for bugs

Cats in the Garden

My cat Skittle loves to walk among the garden growth. She will sleep on the garden path and follows me when I go out to check on things.

cat and pink flowering plant
black cat in the garden
black cat in the garden

More stories on the blog

Starting Vegetable and Flower Seeds in Big Pots

With attention and lots of watering, the seeds I started in larger pots are doing well.

After caring for my seedlings in eggshell pots for weeks, I decided to start some seeds in big pots. They won’t dry out as quickly and are able to stay outside overnight.

I gathered up pots of all sizes that had been lying around and cleaned them out. for drainage I used yard debris, which was a mix of oak leaves, catkins (those long brown things) and Spanish moss. That mixture was pushed into the bottom of each pot before adding dirt.

Gathering empty clay pots for planting
Oak leaves and catkins with Spanish moss

I’ve planted basil, dill, cherry tomatoes, marigolds and cosmos. I used freezer tape to label the pots with the date they were planted.

basil and other seedlings in pots

Growing Basil

Basil can be difficult to grow in Florida, or so I’ve heard. I had some basil plants in the garden that lasted a couple of years, but then they died. Basil does self-sow if you let seeds form. I now have two pots of basil.

The basil seedlings became so crowded that I removed some of the plants by cutting them off. You should cut and not pull when thinning so as not to disturb the roots.

I kept the cuttings to use when cooking! So far, everything looks good and I hope to have nice big basil plants to pull from year round.

Crowded basil growing in a pot
Before thinning
basil seedlings potted
Basil after thinning
basil grown from seeds
Basil one month later – end of May

Cosmos and Marigolds

I chose two types of flower packets to grow from seeds. Marigolds are so wonderful for gardens, because they repel certain bugs that could be destructive. They should be dead-headed (pull off the old flowers) and I rip the flower head apart and scatter it among the vegetables. Every gardener probably includes marigolds when planting. I think certain varieties are better than others, but I didn’t have a lot to choose from at the store.

I bought two flowering marigold plants – see the orange one below – and will see what happens with the seeds.

Marigold seedlings
Marigold
orange marigold
Marigold plant
Clay pots with cosmos and marigold seeds
Cosmos and Marigolds
Cosmos
Cosmos seedlings
Cosmos
little cosmos flower blooming
Flowering cosmos in a grow box

The cosmos seedlings are looking pretty good. A little purple cosmos flower has bloomed in my grow box. That plant was begun in an eggshell pot.

This is certainly a different looking cosmos from what I am used to growing in New Hampshire. Or maybe the plant needs to mature to grow larger.

Actually, the secret is to plant seeds in real good dirt.

The cosmos in the larger pot is looking nice and blooming regularly

Growing Dill

I always grew dill in my northern garden, but have not had luck growing it here in Florida. I do have a few small seedlings in the grow boxes, and now have dill sprouting in this terra cotta pot.

Because I don’t have much luck growing dill, I have chosen to grow fennel. It is similar in that it also grows tall and feathery and has flowers that attract beneficial bugs. Also the Swallowtail butterfly will leave her eggs on fennel, just like parsley and dill.

Dill seeds sprouting in a pot
Dill seedlings

I needed up putting the dill into the potato garden and planted more dill seeds in a large pot.

Dill plant

Cherry Tomatoes

My cherry tomato seedlings were not doing much at first, but now in May they are large plants. I’ve transplanted them a few times and they have little tomatoes on the vine.

re-potting a tomato plant
tomato plants and raised bed gardens
Both tomato plants in their new pots
cherry tomato flowers
small tomato plants
cherry tomato plant in pot
Plants by the end of May

Growing Dill and Fennel in a Florida Garden

Growing dill and fennel in a Florida yard.

I’ve combined these two herbs in this post because one of them I can’t seem to grow. Because dill doesn’t like my yard, I’ve grown fennel in it’s place.

The two herbs are not interchangeable for cooking and seasoning, as they are both different, but as far as gardening goes, they are similar. They are both airy and lacy and have big yellow, open flowers that attract beneficials.

Dill

I first grew dill in my New Hampshire yard. I absolutely loved the flowers that came at the end of the season, which attracted good bugs. Here in Florida I have tried numerous times to grow it without success. This potted dill you see here was grown from seeds.

Aside from the fact that the raccoons dug around in the pot one night, it looks pretty good.

Dill plant

Fennel

Fennel on the other hand grows all on it’s own. It is considered a perennial. It has successfully re-seeded itself in my front yard and I’ve seen caterpillars on it in past years. And often the stalks will last into the following year. Here in Florida that happens with many vegetables.

Unfortunately the brown lizards ate all the worms, so I didn’t see any turn into Swallowtail butterflies.

Swallowtail worm on fennel
Parsley worm which will become a black swallowtail butterfly

Saving Seeds

Both dill and fennel have seeds that form on the flowers and are very easy to save. Because I don’t have luck with dill, I have photos of fennel seeds only.

fennel plant with seeds
Fennel flowers turning to seeds

Fennel easily grows from seeds. I have some plants that have sprung up along the front of the house. This year I saw no caterpillars on them, but I like to have them just in case a butterfly comes by to lay her eggs.

fennel plants