Dum dum da da, dum dum da da, dum dum da da, dum dum da da, de-de-de.
That is my written version of the Mission Impossible Theme. If you are musical, maybe it made sense and you sang along. Or maybe you thought I was losing my mind (I promise I’m not). And if you are listening to the audio version, you get to hear me singing it. I’m sorry. I’ve been singing it in my head since last week at the nursery, when we encountered the Moth Protocol. AKA those little green worms that are falling like the ridiculous amounts of pollen we’ve experienced this year from the oak trees. Have you noticed them? They come every year, but kind of like the pollen they seem extremely plentiful this year. Take a break from whatever you are doing (even if it is just your daily Wordle), head outside to the nearest oak tree, and you are likely to see little green caterpillars hanging Tom Cruise-style from the branches.
According to UF/IFAS, these little green caterpillars are Oak Leafrollers or Leaftiers. They can be really small at a quarter of an inch or up to an inch in length, like the one I got on camera in front of Abby. They are usually content to remain in the tree, feeding on tender new leaves in primarily oaks but sometimes in hackberry, walnut, and pecan trees. On a breezy day, however, their simple meal may be interrupted by a gust of wind and they lose their perches – that’s when they release their silk and fall to the ground. In the case of Leafrollers, they prefer to make their cocoons in the tree, finding a nook or cranny that seems safe, but the Leaftiers actually deliberately fall and pupate in the leaf litter on the ground. When they emerge from their cocoons after a few weeks, they become tiny little moths. While sometimes we think of moths as a nuisance, they are an important part of our native ecosystem. We’ll talk more about that in about a month at our Earth Day Celebration – click for details.
But this week, we’re going to shift from Moth Protocol to the Beauty of Butterflies. Join me this Saturday for a Butterfly Seminar for Kids! For years I’ve given our butterfly seminar, but it is always for adults. This year, we want to make sure kids are learning about how amazing butterflies are. So join us this Saturday at 10 am, for a kid-friendly butterfly seminar and some hands-on activities and learning opportunities for them. Then pick up your Native Swamp Milkweed, Pentas, or Salvia (and of course Black Gold® Natural and Organic Garden Compost and Bio-tone®) to plant your own butterfly garden at home. Bringing the wonder of butterflies into your home garden is magical, and watching a caterpillar transform from chubby worm to beautiful butterfly is just like something out of Mission Impossible, Mother Nature-style.
