I am growing a whole host of new crops this year, including cabbages and calabrese (like broccoli). Things were going very well until a cabbage white butterfly tracked my plants down. I have a vague feeling that the plants give off an odour which the butterflies pick up on.
It's tricky really, every since I was a child, I have loved butterflies. My Grandad used to have collections of exotic butterflies pinned under glass which I used to like looking at. When I was four or five, I used to try and add to his collection. I would catch Red Admirals in my shrimping net and take them around to his house, as he lived two doors down from us. My Grandad used to carefully take the butterflies out of the net and pop them under an upturned jar.
I have a funny feeling as soon as I was gone he used to let them go again in the garden. I sincerely hope he did anyway!
When I was a bit older, I collected caterpillars in the garden and kept them in a large jar with holes in the lid. I fed them up and watched as they became chrysalis. I remember going down one morning weeks later to find butterflies testing their wings in the jar, the transformation complete. I had such pleasure releasing them into the garden.
So here I am, years later, still enjoying watching the butterflies in my garden. But then it struck me, butterflies lay eggs which hatch into caterpillars, which eat my cabbages and calabrese! Nightmare! I didn't have the heart to destroy the eggs so carefully laid or the caterpillars happily feasting.
When I thought about it, sometimes you just have to garden for wildlife. If you want butterflies, you need to grow plants that attract them. Caterpillars are eaten by the birds who I also want to attract, so I guess sometimes you just need to sacrifice a little to attract much richer rewards.
Who wants to eat cabbage anyway?
I have just got back from another trip to Las Vegas and am immediately struck again by how green England is in comparison. Hardly surprising as Las Vegas, despite meaning "the meadows", is very arid due to its location in the Mojave Desert. The trees tend to be palm trees and much of the green grass is heavily watered every night to keep it green or is astroturf!
Mostly found in the Mohave Desert, the Joshua Tree is a member of the Yukka plant family and got its name from the Mormons who travelled across the Mohave Desert during the mid 1800's. The plants survive the harsh conditions by growing extremely slowly once established. The largest trees can be hundreds of years old but still relatively small in tree terms. Whilst areas of the desert are densely populated with trees, the size of the trees actually makes the forest seem quite sparse.
It's tricky really, every since I was a child, I have loved butterflies. My Grandad used to have collections of exotic butterflies pinned under glass which I used to like looking at. When I was four or five, I used to try and add to his collection. I would catch Red Admirals in my shrimping net and take them around to his house, as he lived two doors down from us. My Grandad used to carefully take the butterflies out of the net and pop them under an upturned jar.
So here I am, years later, still enjoying watching the butterflies in my garden. But then it struck me, butterflies lay eggs which hatch into caterpillars, which eat my cabbages and calabrese! Nightmare! I didn't have the heart to destroy the eggs so carefully laid or the caterpillars happily feasting.
The more I looked at them, I suddenly remembered my growing attempts last year. Having brushed against the plants a bit too much, I developed a really bad, itchy rash on my arms. When I went to the chemist, the pharmacist told me that potatoes belong to the nightshade family which also includes, amongst others, tomatoes, aubergine and deadly nightshade. Obviously, some are more toxic than others!
At my old house, I had a pair of blackbirds nesting in my jasmine. In the spring I would hear the cheeping of chicks in the nest and see the mother flying in and out to feed them. Now I like watching them in the autumn flying up and down, stripping the honeysuckle of its berries.
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