Caterpillar Alert

Butterflies look very attractive as they flutter from plant to plant in a garden. Watching them on a summer's day completely belies the fact they are high up on the gardener's list of arch enemies.

Eggs laid in rows on the underside of the leaves of many flowering plants soon hatch into little monsters capable of devouring these leaves seemingly within hours (. . . well. . . days).

Dahlias are particularly susceptible. Beware.

The new 'Provado' spray in the yellow bottle (active ingredient 'Thiacloprid') seems to work well against them.