Caterpillars
Alidonne
Posts: 41
I wondered why none of my plants have been thriving as with previous years so I decided to investigate. I have found a couple of bright green 'caterpillars' on some of the plants. I squished the, and put them on the bird table. My concern is that most of the, I found were in the soil - although not all of them. How can I get rid of them before they totally kill off my garden. I've already lost all my dahlias and it looks like my azaleas are going the same way as well as my pansies.
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Where do you live Alidonne? I would have thought that the first frost would see them off. Perhaps the birds will find them on cold days. The green caterpillars are probably the lavae of the Cabbage White butterfly and I am very surprised that they are still around.mine disappeared in November when the weather changed.
I live in South wales. My garden is south facing and my plants have always done well until this year. I even have an olive tree. I found a couple of these caterpillars this morning so they are still going strong here
Send us a photo. We love a photo
If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
Spending winter as a caterpillar is a very common method of surviving for many moths and butterflies. They usually hide in the leaf litter or under plants such as foxgloves and verbascums which offer good protection. Examples include: Dingy Skipper, Chequered Skipper, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Common Blue, Northern Brown Argus, Small Copper, Green Hairstreak, Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary, Pearl-Bordered Fritillary, Dark Green Fritillary, Marsh Fritillary, Speckled Wood, Wall, Mountain Ringlet, Scotch Argus, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Heath and Large Heath. Those are from the SW Scotland butterfly site:
http://southwestscotland-butterflies.org.uk/blog/?tag=winter
Species will differ in south Wales which is a lot warmer!
Are the dahlias definitely lost Alidonne - the tubers might still be sound?
I'm not sure I have left the roots and bulbs in the ground so maybe something will grow back. I hope so they were very pretty and brightened my garden no end. Plus they did well in the strong sun I get in the summer
Sorry the pictures have turned sideways. cant wait for the weather to improve so I can clean up my patio and give the garden a really good tidy
That's a nice sized olive tree - anything to put in a dry Martini yet?
If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
Unfortunately no real sized olives from it yet but to be fair for the last few years it has been left to its own devices with minimal intervention. This year will be different because I'll be leaving the army and for the first time since I bought the house 12 years ago I'll be home all the time to look after it better and the rest of the garden too