Result of not killing all caterpillars

Growing season may be over, but there are many things to look back on and contemplate upon.  I tried to put the photographs I took during summer months in order and to my surprise there were so many different types of butterflies and moths that visited our garden.  I don’t use pesticides, wholly organic, no kidding.  I don’t use pesticides since I have no intention of committing suicide slowly, veeeeery slowly.  I like my winged garden assistants to have fresh, organic foods.

I even took a shot at raising the unwanted Tobacco Hornworm in the house because I wanted to see them metamorphose into the huge moth of legend.  But after feeding two of them what seemed like two tons of tomato leaves every day, I gave up and returned them to the garden where they immediately became braconid wasp hosts (as they are supposed to).  The tobacco hornworms are very destructive and the wasps do keep them in check so I think fair balance was maintained in the end.

Since I let nature take its own course, the results in the garden have been very satisfying.  The balance has allowed the garden to provide us with a nice variety of vegetables.  In the offing we were blessed with a lovely array of pollinators.  So, herewith I present a slide show of some of the more colorful visitors. Butterflies & Moths

After looking at the photographs of all the butterflies and moths, I just miss seeing the metamorphosis process of the little guys I tried to raise.  But there will always be another summer.