Parsley As A Host Plant

There is only one reason why I plant parsley in my gardens and it's not to eat or to be used as a garnish.

I plant parsley, as a host plant, to attract the Black Swallowtail caterpillars.

I bought a 4-pack of parsley this spring and planted them in different locations in my gardens.  I check them over every couple of days and yesterday I noticed this beauty hidden nicely and chomping away!

Seems to work every year!

Plant It And They Will Come!!

 

Following last years lead and success, and in the hope of attracting more butterflies, I planted additional Parsley plants this year.  However, instead of planting them all in the same general area, as I've done in the past, I planted them in various gardens throughout the yard.

 

This particular Parsley plant was planted amongst the squash plants.  It's doing very well, close to 3' tall and about to flowering.

 

And WALLAH!  Low and behold what did my little eye spy the other day, well it's a handsome young Black Swallowtail caterpillar!!

 

This is EXACTLY what I was hoping to accomplish and very happy to see it worked.  Hopefully, there will be others too.  Rest assured that we'll be waiting and watching.

Parsley, a Biennial...

Q: Will my parsley last more than one year?

A: Yes, you should be able to harvest parsley from one plant for two years in a row. It is a biennial, growing a plant the first year and sending up a seed stalk or flowers the second year. As long as the plant is not in excessive high heat or excessive cold, you can harvest in the second year after removing the flower stalk. Pick only the mature leaves.

Courtesy of The Old Farmer's Almanac