@theknottygarden: 🐞 Dill isn’t just for my favourite refrigerator pickles…it’s a powerhouse host plant for ladybugs! 🌿 What’s a host plant? • Provides shelter and habitat for beneficial insects • Attracts their food source • Supports biodiversity in the garden Ladybugs are carnivores, so they aren’t eating the dill itself; they’re hunting the aphids that gather there. If you’ve never seen a ladybug larva before… surprise! 🐞👀 They look nothing like the cute red adults we recognize. Larvae resemble tiny alligators and are aphid-munching machines. 🐛 Ladybug larva: can eat ~400 aphids before adulthood 🐞 Adult ladybug: can eat up to 50 aphids per day Because my garden is a Certified Wildlife Habitat, supporting biodiversity and working with the ecosystem to keep the garden healthy is really important to me. Why dill is a garden superstar 🌼🐞 • Supports beneficial insects • Helps with integrated pest management (IPM) • Pollinator-friendly • Edible and beautiful; it can even be used in bouquets! • One of the hardest working herbs in the garden 🌿 Dill growing tips: • Direct sow clusters of seeds outdoors. Dill has a long taproot and doesn’t love being transplanted. • Plant in full sun for the healthiest growth and strongest flavor. • Let some plants flower and go to seed. The blooms attract other beneficial insects and you’ll get volunteer dill next season I also get a lot of questions about Asian lady beetles. • They are true ladybugs • They’re a non-native naturalized species • They can outcompete some native ladybugs • They are officially classified as beneficial insects because they help control pests Before removing “weird looking bugs” this spring, take a closer look… you might be protecting the next generation of aphid hunters. 🐞 ♻️ Repost and share to help more people recognize and protect ladybug larvae this spring! 🌸Erin
