Finally, our backyard is back to normal! The deer ate most of the caterpillar habitat. And the possum was eating the caterpillars. It was all bad. But now the Swallowtail Butterflies, Toads, and Lizards (along with the birds) are enjoying their sanctuary.
If you want a great host plant for swallowtails, fennel is definitely irresistible to them! I don’t mind if the butterfly caterpillars eat the fennel. However, when the deer eat it, that’s just wrong. Why would deer eat fennel anyway? They typically don’t like strong flavored vegetation.
When you plant fennel, isolate it, if you can. It’s roots prevent lots of plants near it from thriving. I have sage, oregano, and jewels of opar planted next to mine, and they all do fine.
Although you can only see 2 caterpillars in this picture, there are no less than 35 on the fennel right now! It’s crazy.
We have a very small frog or toad living in the fountain area. It’s dark and pretty smooth-skinned. We still haven’t been able to identify it.
The butterflies are pretty spectacular. If you create a habitat for them, they will come. Soon we’ll have fritillary butterfly caterpillars on the passion vine, and monarch caterpillars on the milkweed. After they become butterflies, they have plenty to eat in our garden.