This year I also planted a nice herb garden with fennel, parsley, basil and dill just for the butterfly caterpillars. I also have butterfly weed and have been watching it for caterpillars. None yet. Last year there were many nibbling away and they got fatter every day. I took my coffee into the garden each morning to keep an eye on them. They ate off every leaf but that was fine, I had planted it just for them. The plant survived and put on new leaves as time went on. Right between the butterfly weeds and the herbs I have Zinnias growing for the butterflies to sit on. I should have a lot of "Kodak moments" this summer:) Happy gardening! Tina

Hi, they look like cabbage worms (but could be rose slugs too). I would try BT on the leaves. You can get it premixed in a hand sprayer or a concentrated formula that you mix yourself and pour into a spray bottle. Spray it on the leaves every 2 weeks (or right after a rain). It's toxic to any caterpillars or worms that are eating the leaves and leaves everything else alone. I use it to keep skeletonizers off my grape vines and it works great.

That's exactly what they are! I think they're really cool looking, don't you? There are not too many things that allow you to look into their 'innards'. For the most part, these sawfly larvae do cosmetic injury and the tree will recover from the assault and leaf out normally next season. Treating them is not recommended unless it happens a few years in a row, which can weaken the tree. Lots of other critters will move in to feast on these pests, another reason to avoid spraying.

It is a member of the Dianthus genus, but there are around 300 species. Most are referred to as "pinks". Most species are also perennial, but might die out due to conditions of climate. The blooms you show are doubles and may be carnations (D. caryophyllus), though this is a guess as there are also double-flowered cultivars of other species. Most species dianthus have only 5 petals.