These caterpillars had already devoured half the leaves on my young crabapples when I finally discovered them. How could they be missed? Fat, spotted and making no attempt at disguise, they were busily on their way to butterflies. It’s interesting that they don’t eat the leaf veins, as you can see the skeleton on the left. Why bite into tough veins when surrounded by succulent … Continue reading Caterpillar Attack
My roses are suffering from this triple threat. With a cool, wet spring and having been mostly ignored, the danger deepens. The aphids seem to multiply exponentially, small, unassuming and insidious. The caterpillars hungrily munch, munch, munch, without the good manners to finish one leaf before moving on to the next. Black spot is here to stay, and it’s not going away. So what is … Continue reading Awful Aphids, Creepy Caterpillars and Evil Black Spot
