Cutting down Parsley

The vegetables got planted, I finished weeding the herb garden, cutting back the Chives and Parsley, and planting the Cilantro and Dill. This morning I went out and planted the Marigolds around the vegetable garden and also planted Basil in the vegetable garden. The Parsley had grown around 3 feet tall and was blooming. I had to cut it down because the stems were very think and they had fallen into the Lavender.

Cutting down the Parsley I felt very guilty by doing this because I didn’t know if there were butterfly eggs on it and I wouldn’t want to destroy them. A few years ago I cut some Parsley and put it in a vase on my windowsill so I could use it for cooking without going out to the garden. The next morning I woke up and there were Monarch caterpillars, around 4 or 5, on the Parsley. I called a fellow Master Gardener who lives in my neighborhood and raises butterflies to ask her what to do. She came over and picked up the cut Parsley and caterpillars and added them to hers to be raised until they were Monarch butterflies.

To ease my guilt and hoping to save any future Monarchs, I cut the top of a gallon milk jug, filled it with water and put the large stems of Parsley in it and placed it on the deck. It perked up and is doing well.