Parsley Worms

Last night I noticed my curley parsley was nothing but a few leaves and mostly sticks.....the plant was covered with parsley worms.


Ewwwwwwwwww !!


I do NOT like the creepy crawlers. They gross me out. But, since my gardening warrior is not here I had to deal with them on my own.

Unlike him, who picks them off and removes them from the plant, I simply got a 'yard bag' (for recycling yard waste) and dumped the whole plant & soil, saving the pot for the next planting I do. I know he's got some dill started for me so I might as well start some more parsley ~ it'll be big before I know it!

When I googled the icky things I discovered they are caterpillars that turn into swallowtail butterflies. I like butterflies. But I'm not going to leave them around until they decide to morph into something pretty. I do know they can destroy a huge plant in a matter of hours, hungry little devils that they are. So, I hope they get their fill in the dark of the 'yard bag' and live happily at the landfill......

Here's a link to a pretty good pic of what they look like: http://outlawgarden.com/2012/05/22/please-dont-tease-the-parsley-worm/

I didn't realize they also like to chew away at your dill and carrots. I'd plant my parsley in with my chives (like Norm suggested) but right now my chives are being choked out by grass that was in the soil. I have to take 'clumps', wet it down and separate the chive plants from the grass. A long and labor intensive process. I may just chuck the whole thing and buy a new chive plant. I guess I'm not as sentimental about it being started from my Grandma's chives as I use to be.

Man, those are nasty looking little buggers! Never saw them before and never heard of them. I have parsley and chives in pots and when the season cools, I always have dill, too, but luckily, I've never seen those puppies before, Beth. I like my herbs in pots so I can keep them on the deck so I don't have to walk through the grass to get some (I'm deathly afraid of cockroaches like some women are afraid of spiders - I like spiders 'cause they eat cockroaches). The only herb in the ground is a big ol' rosemary plant. Had some rosemary on the deck but it got ignored after Brian moved it; then I brought it back and he accidentally kicked it over and didn't "realize" it; it obviously laid on its side long enough to kick the bucket! Will plant more in the fall as I usually buy one of those little potted rosemary Christmas trees for the island, which I decorate with tiny little battery-operated LED lights. After the holidays, I put that thing out on the deck so it doesn't die.

I wouldn't even be able to WATCH Dane pick those nasty "worms" off -- I'd be too grossed out. Just looking at that thing, I would've thought it was a stinging caterpillar and would've called Brian to knock him out of my plant and kill him with a trowel. And I don't watch that either!

I don't blame you for throwing that away so it didn't get to the rest of your herbs/plants!

Double ewwwww, Jimmy!    

Some types of oak trees here get small caterpillars on them at a certain time of year.  They're the skinny little ones without colors or hair on them and I don't think they sting you.  But when a tree is really full of them, one might fall on you when you were walking under the tree.  

I worked with this woman who would take the street car to work, and she was really freaked out by the caterpillars.  Gloria always had her trusty umbrella with her and would pop that thing open the second she stepped off the street car, as she said it was better than making a fool out of herself by screaming and dancing around when one of those caterpillars fell on her.

Crybaby wrote:Double ewwwww, Jimmy!    

Some types of oak trees here get small caterpillars on them at a certain time of year.  They're the skinny little ones without colors or hair on them and I don't think they sting you.  But when a tree is really full of them, one might fall on you when you were walking under the tree.  

I worked with this woman who would take the street car to work, and she was really freaked out by the caterpillars.  Gloria always had her trusty umbrella with her and would pop that thing open the second she stepped off the street car, as she said it was better than making a fool out of herself by screaming and dancing around when one of those caterpillars fell on her.

Oh dear..... the poor thing.
We get the inch worms in the start of summer on the Maple Trees.
Tina screams s o b ...s o b .... when and if she gets one wiggling in her hair. Naturally....she's looking at me as if it was MY Fault.
Then she yells... "You better get out there and spray!"....
I'm like.... whe whe when did I all of a sudden become your private entomologist? Huh?

Just saw your post. About 4 months ago I was sitting outside next to my parsley plant and saw these huge, bright green with stripes worms hanging on to the branches. They looked similar to your worms but more like tomato worms. ICK! I don't smash things that are that big - too much goo. So, I pulled them off and tossed them over the wall into my neighbors yard. They have no parsley.