Hot Summer Heat--Tips for Plants

During July and August the weather is generally very HOT.. Here are some tips to keep your Annual flowers blooming and looking healthy.

1st-- Make sure they are being watered regularly. When they get too dry that put stress on the plant.

2nd-- You should also be fertilizing your flowers at about 1/2 strength 1-2 times a week.

3rd--If you are going to be gone for a day or two you can move some of your sun loving plants to a shady spot out of the direct sun while you are gone. This will give them a little rest from the heat and help with the watering while you are gone.

Don't forget to stay cool yourself!!

Parsleyworm Caterpiller

This Parsleyworm is feeding on dill in my garden. They also like to dine on parsley, celery, fennel, and other plants in the carrot family Apiaceae. After he or she is done dinning for 3-4 weeks they will then form a pupa in a grayish chrysalis. After roughly two weeks an adult Black Swallowtail Butterfly will emerge. This butterfly will feed on nectar, mate, and lay eggs to produce more Parsleyworm caterpillers. In the midwest there is generally two hatchings of Black Swallowtail Butterflies. When fall comes the caterpillers form a chrysalis and stay in their chrysalis until spring of the next year, when they start this process all over again. I will be watching for the Black Swallowtail Butterflies when they hatch and post a photo at that time.