Can't Have One Without The Other

  Months ago, the fennel was growing well.  It is one of the herbs that is easy to grow, fun to harvest, smells divine and once the seeds are dried, lasts forever!  Fennel is a must have in my herb stash. Not only is it a great culinary herb, it has numerous medicinal uses.  It calms the stomach, clears the digestive tract and can help cut phlegm from sinuses and colds.  I use it so many ways in my home remedies.   Being as it is easy to grow, I have several nice large clumps in the herb garden.  The bright green leaves and yellow blooms add a bit of loveliness to the yard.

  It is those bright green leaves that also attract egg-laying butterflies.  The black swallowtails seem to be especially fond of the plants so after the eggs hatch into hungry caterpillars, the fennel looks a bit ragged for a few weeks.  I am one who will leave most caterpillars alone to dine upon the herbs.  The butterflies are worth a few munched leaves.  Spraying the fennel would not only kill the caterpillars, it would also poison the plants for my use.  

  This morning, the reward of neglecting the fennel for the past few months had paid off.  A gorgeous black swallowtail flitted about the garden.  Obviously, the swallowtails love the nectar of the chive blooms, too!   Its beauty was well worth a few missing leaves.  It sort of makes me sad that, even though most folks love the beauty of butterflies, they hate the caterpillars.  Sorry to inform you, folks...you cannot have one without the other.