Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Caterpillar emergency

alexander.wadealexander.wade Posts: 39
edited August 2023 in Problem solving
Hello,

I was just inspecting my garden and discovered a caterpillar infestation on my favourite bush! I watered the garden yesterday and there was no sign of them! Any idea what to do before they distort everything else? Also if anyone can identify the bush that would be amazing! The tub was what I managed to get off in 5 minutes!!! This bush was completely full yesterday and now it’s so bare 🥲
Photos on next post!
thanks for any help!

Posts

  • alexander.wadealexander.wade Posts: 39

  • pr1mr0sepr1mr0se Posts: 1,193
    edited August 2023
    That looks like cleome - a pretty annual plant, with lovely flowers (usually in the pink and white spectrum) and seed heads that I always think of resembling spiders!  But - oh, my goodness, they do attract certain butterflies or moths (never identified which) and the caterpillars are voracious.  The only remedy I have ever found is to pick the darned things off manually!
    I may be wrong, of course, since your flowers are more lavender in colour - but I suspect the remedy is much the same.
    PS I've just googled cleome and see that many are mauve/lavender.  I think my identification is probably correct!
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Large white butterfly caterpillars love spider flower. You can probably remove them onto something else in the brassica family and let them turn into butterflies.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Sign In or Register to comment.