The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful hanging basket of petunias that looked like this:


Then one day, it started looking very ragged. At first I blamed myself for not watering carefully enough in the heat, or thought it might not be getting enough sun under the eaves...


But within a matter of hours, every last flower had holes in it.


It was time for action. I turned to google and typed in "petunia pests" to find this:

Well really this:
The geranium budworm caterpillar (dun dun dun). It feeds on the buds and flowers of many common plants, including geraniums and petunias. Well I'll say! That also solves the case of the pretty pink geranium that stopped blooming.

I found a very good article on the subject on here. According to them, a biological insecticide called BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) should help, as it's a bacteria specific to caterpillars. I liked that idea because I am kind of against synthetic chemicals. I couldn't find it at Home Depot, but I did find an organic insecticide called Eco Smart made of rosemary, thyme, peppermint, and clove oils. (Click on image for more info.)

I doused the sad hanging basket with Eco Smart, and that evening found two disoriented caterpillars roaming the front porch. Just to make sure they wouldn't find their way back, I squished them. Harsh, I know.

I am happy to say my petunias are making a slow but steady comeback. And I really hope that is THE END.