I planted some parsley early in the summer in hopes butterflies would lay their eggs on it. They did and we started seeing caterpillars in August! Last week the parsley plant was completely devoured so Kira and I went to Publix to buy some fresh parsley. We went out a couple times a day to check on them and give them some more if they needed it.
They have all pupated now and today we had our first butterfly emerge. It is an Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes), I believe it is a female. When Kira and I first went out at 8 AM, it was hanging upside down on the Osteospermum located right next to the parsley plant. It wasn't able to fly yet, I think it had just recently emerged from its cocoon (is chrysalis a correct term for cocoon?). A bit later we went to check on it again and it spread its wings for us! So beautiful!
It is my understanding that butterflies like to lay their eggs on mint plants (peppermint, spearmint, etc.), parsley, fennel, dill and perhaps some other kinds of herbs. Different butterflies are attracted to different herbs. Next year I think we will try some other kinds of herbs to see if we can get some different kinds of butterflies in our garden.
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