Weeds

This is the herb garden that I gave to my daughter on December 25th. All those lovely pots AND the ladder came from Urban Ore; it was a great deal! One of the herbs was parsley, which Anise Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars like to eat. But there is so little parsley in the city, we would see hardly any Anise Swallowtails if they depended on this herb. There would also be very few of this butterfly if they depended on their original host, yampah. When the Europeans moved in, they destroyed most of this native plant. But they also brought with them that common weed, fennel, which the butterflies learned to use. Anise Swallowtails are one of those butterflies that has learned to live in cities because it thrives on weeds. Many other butterflies have made this switch; West Coast Ladies, Red Admirals, and Common Buckeyes, to name a few. So, be thankful for the weeds; their tenacity means that there is plenty of food for the caterpillars.