Holy Caterpillar

October 30 2008
Wow! Holy-caterpillar!

Yellowish-green and black and white striped, kind of plump and two to three inches long, the Monarch butterfly caterpillars just jumped out at me as I took a quick peek into the Butterfly, Bee and Beneficials (B3) garden. Well, I mean the caterpillars didn’t really jump out at me; in fact, the insects attracted to the B3 garden are by and large all safe, but the Monarch caterpillar’s colors did jump right out of the B3 garden plants.

The brilliant contrast of colors between the bright red and yellow Milkweed blossoms and the colorfully striped Monarch caterpillar---beautiful!

See link to caterpillar and B3 garden pictures here. It’s really a double bonus when you see the beauty of these plants adding color to a garden or yard, while at the same time feeling good that you’ve been providing essential habitat for beneficial insects like the Monarch caterpillar and others. –end—

Don’t miss it!

Friday September 19th 2008

Just in case you’ve missed it, Rincon-Vitova Insectaries of Ventura California has put in a sample Butterfly, Bee and Beneficial Insect Garden (B3 Garden). It is on the west side of the Ventura bike trail right alongside the Ventura River. It’s easy to miss, even when you work at the site like I do.

The B3 garden is there to attract butterflies, bees, beneficial insects and other six-legged visitors with its increasing diversity of drought tolerant plants, but it should attract you too.


Most of the plants are labeled and there is additional information posted about garden management. During daylight hours, folks are always welcome to take a closer at the garden in order to spot butterflies, beneficial wasps/flies and other insects.

Aside from all that, it’s just a nice little stop off the bike trail amongst an array of flowering plants. –end-