Black Swallowtail Caterpillars and Butterflies
Black Swallowtail Caterpillars and Butterflies are so fun in the garden! To attract Black Swallowtail Caterpillars, you need two ingredients in your garden: nectar plants for the butterflies and host plants for the swallowtail’s caterpillars (and the plants for each are different!).
CATERPILLAR HOST PLANTS:
The plants below are the plants you need in your garden for Black Swallowtail caterpillars. The Black Swallowtail Butterflies lay their eggs on these plants. As the caterpillars hatch and grow, they eat the plants below until they form a chrysalis and become a Black Swallowtail Butterfly.
Dill
Fennel
Parsley
Carrots
Rue
PLANTS TO ATTRACT SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLIES:
The plants below are the plants you need in your garden to attract the Black Swallowtail Butterflies. These flowers produce the nectar the butterflies can’t resist.
Phlox
Cone Flower (a favorite)
Lantana
Zinnias
Bee Balm
Mystic Spires Salvia
Pentas
Verbena
Summer Jewel Salvia
AVOID PESTICIDES TO PROTECT THE CATERPILLARS
Black Swallowtail caterpillars usually start showing up in the garden when other less-wanted caterpillars make an appearance. While the Black Swallowtail are harmless and really do not destroy your fennel, parsley, dill, or rue, other caterpillars in the garden can cause complete havoc to your other veggies. If you treat your garden with BT to get rid of the unwanted caterpillars destroying your harvests, make sure to keep it far away from the caterpillar host plants like dill, parsley, fennel, and rue! When treating with BT, I like to take an old sheet and cover my dill, parsley, fennel, and rue while spraying near them so none of the BT gets on the plants. To read about using BT in the garden to treat organically for the unwanted caterpillars, HERE is the info you need!
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