I purchased four small, but nice, well-leafed rue plants today with the added bonus of two caterpillars, and I'm hoping there's some more eggs, as well.
Anyway, now I'm wondering how much rue will these little cats eat? I just raised and released about twenty monarchs in the last week, and I think I'm still exhausted from continually feeding those little buggers. (If I leave them outside NONE survive the wasps.)
So...back to the swallowtails. How greedy are these little cats going to be?
Or to ask in another way, "What have I gotten myself into?" LOL
Jo
This message was edited May 17, 2008 9:04 PM
How much rue will a black swallowtail cat eat?
Jo,
I've always kept a couple of large rue plants in my back yard. The BSTs come by and lay anywhere from 24 to 36 eggs on them. The caterpillars hatch in about 7 days and start munching away. To me they are not as voracious as monarchs - a small plant in a 4" pot should sustain a couple of caterpillars.
I have had small rue plants in 4" pots stripped completely though - so depending on how many you have you might need more...or perhaps you can put a couple of potted fennel plants close by. I've had caterpillars crawl back and forth between the two plants to eat both.
~ Cat
Thanks! I also bought bronzed fennel, but I also have regular fennel, dill, and curly parsley already growing in the ground. I just haven't attracted anything on those plants, yet.
While on the subject of rue....will rue get very big?
This is the second season for mine and it looks about the same size--maybe 10" around and not very tall... For some reason I thought it grew tall...?
My rue plants get to be about 24" tall. They sometimes flop over because they get too heavy :o) I try to remember to use garden stakes to hold them up but too often forget - and oh well, the butterflies find them anyways.
~ Cat
Okay, went outside and took a photo of the larger rue plant - this one is close to 30 inches tall - parts of it have flopped over as well :o) I'd put a small 4" pot of rue into a shallow plastic tub with the intention of clipping cuttings to root but just never got around to it and as you can see it grew quite tall! I've got about two dozen BST cats on this plant now and I've added a couple of small pots of fennel to the tub just in case. Have another potted rue plant that is about 15" tall kept shaded by one of my citrus trees that I found more BST cats on :o)
This message was edited May 18, 2008 8:09 PM
Oooh. Maybe I have the wrong kind of rue... Mine doesn't shoot up like that. 0-:
Thanks for taking the special pic.
And thanks for reminding me about the cuttings. I'll go buy one plant and start some extras using cuttings.
Ok, folks - please don't laugh, & keep in mind that I'm fairly new to this humming-
bird/butterfly gardening thing (& I don't cook, so I don't know my herbs). Here
goes - not knowing what rue was, & thinking maybe it was just short for arugula
when I saw that at the garden center, I bought some (arugula, that is). I will buy
some actual rue, but meanwhile, is the arugula good for anything butterflyish?
It's already flowered, so I'm told it isn't really good for salads now. What to do?
I'm so sorry, but that is too funny not to laugh! LOL!
On the argula, can you pile it under and around fish to cook it/steam it? Sounds quite trendy.
Suzy
Kind of like using fennel when steaming fish? Good idea! Thanks.
I know you guys are talking about caterpillars when you say "cats", but here, I'm
talking about my actual 4 footed furry "curiosity killed the cat" cat, Izzy. I've caught
him sniffing around the dill & fennel, & occasionally grabbing a munch. I
bought some rue today & the label (& research) says it can be right nasty if
ingested. Do I need to attempt the impossible & try to plant it out of kitty's reach
but where the flutterbies can still get it?
If kitty is interest in your herbs you best buy a couple of small pots of catnip to keep kitty happy. Set it off to one side of your yard away from where the butterflies and caterpillars will be.
Sorry to hear about the rue / arugula mix up :o)
~ Cat