Both fennel and dill look great in the landscape with their fine-textured, feathery fronds, but my favorite similarity of these herbs is that they are excellent host plants for Swallowtail butterflies! These tiny white eggs that are laid atop and under the leaves of dill and fennel hatch in about 3-5 days.
Which dill is best for butterflies?
Anethum graveolens likes full sun and tolerates poor soil, but prefers fertile soil with consistent medium moisture. It can handle dryness but may bolt earlier than normal. Dill does not like hot weather and so does best in cooler climates, or in spring/early summer in hot climates.
What happens when dill and fennel cross pollinate?
Cross-pollination is a problem for fennel and dill seeds because it affects the seed’s flavor and that of next year’s plants, if harvesting seeds for future planting. While self-pollinating plants generally pollinate themselves before opening, cross-pollination can occur.
What plant attracts the most butterflies?
For butterflies, Joe-Pye weed, ironweed, coneflowers, goldenrod, and brightly-hued asters are nectar-filled favorites. A monarch caterpillar feasting on milkweed.
Does dill grow from fennel?
Dill and fennel often get confused for one another. They seem similar in appearance, but they are in fact two different plants used for different purposes and each possess unique characteristics that directly affect the nature of the dishes that they are used in.
Do butterflies eat fennel?
The entire plant of fennel is edible. Both fennel and dill look great in the landscape with their fine-textured, feathery fronds, but my favorite similarity of these herbs is that they are excellent host plants for Swallowtail butterflies!
Does dill attract butterflies?
Generally grown for its culinary uses, dill is also an unconventionally attractive butterfly host plant with its feathery, aromatic green leaves and yellow buds.
How far apart should dill and fennel be planted?
12-18 inches
Quick Reference Growing Guide
| Plant Type: | Short-lived perennial aromatic herb | Yellow/green, bronze |
|---|---|---|
| Spacing: | 12-18 inches | Well-draining |
| Planting Depth: | 1/4 inch (seeds) | Beneficial pollinators |
| Time to Maturity: | 60-90 days | Other Apiaceae family members, especially dill |
| Height: | 2-6 feet, depending on variety | Apiaceae |
What insects does fennel attract?
Besides social wasps and hoverflies fennel attracted honey bees, wild bees and bumble bees, beetles, various groups of wasps and flies. Most of those are beneficial pollinators (Rader et al. 2016) and some are important agents for biological control being predators and parasitoids (Lopez et al.
What butterflies eat fennel?
Along the West Coast from Southern California to the Puget Sound, anise swallowtail caterpillars feed on fennel or anise (Foeniculum vulgare) as a host plant.
What should I plant in my butterfly garden?
Butterflies feed on tubular flowers and they especially love those with “landing strips.” Yarrow, stonecrop, coneflower, verbena, phlox, butterfly bush, butterfly weed (Asclepias), bee balm, cardinal flower (Lobelia), coreopsis, black-eyed Susan, Joe Pye weed, pentas, and various asters and sedums can keep your garden
What smells are butterflies attracted to?
Apricot, cherry, plum, apple, and crab apple trees are attractive to pollinators in the spring. A sweet acacia tree in your bee and butterfly garden will add interest and a heady scent. The yellow flowers on the acacia tree pop out in early spring to lure bees and butterflies in.
What is the best butterfly plant?
Butterfly Garden Flowers
- Phlox. Phlox is a low-growing, spreading plant that forms a blanket of blooms all summer.
- Coneflower (Echinacea) Coneflower is one of the best flowers for attracting butterflies.
- Lantana.
- Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii)
- Pot Marigolds.
- Black-Eyed Susan.
- Blazing Star Flowers (Liatris spicata)
- Heliotrope.
Is fennel good for pollinators?
3. Fennel. Fennel’s bright yellow flowerheads are rich in nectar and pollen – food for mining bees, yellow-faced bees, bumblebees and honeybees.
Are fennel and dill the same thing?
The main difference between dill and fennel is that fennel leaves are longer and have a strong licorice flavor than dill leaves. Dill and fennel are two herbs that belong to the family Apiaceae. Dill seeds are used as spices, and leaves are used as herbs. Fennel plants, on the other hand, are entirely edible.
Do monarchs like fennel?
Black swallowtail larvae feed on a variety of different host plants, but cultivated garden plants like dill, parsley, celery, and fennel are a few on the list.
What butterflies lay their eggs on dill?
A female black swallowtail butterfly lays her eggs on dill.
This is one reason growing herbs like parsley and dill in a backyard garden has become so popular.
What kind of fennel do swallowtails like?
Handsome, ornamental plants with 4-5 foot feathery plumes of filigreed blue-green, copper-tipped leaves and lacy, golden flower umbels. A stunning addition to flower beds and a major nectar and pollen host for many butterflies (especially Swallowtails) and beneficial insect species.
What butterflies grow on dill?
In fact, one of the only pests for dill is the larval stage of an insect that is beneficial as an adult: the black swallowtail butterfly.
What insects does dill attract?
Dill attracts lots of beneficial insects to your garden. For instance, dill brings in ladybugs, green lacewings, braconid wasps, tachinid flies, hoverflies, mealybug destroyers, and aphid midges.
What is dill a good companion plant for?
Dill plants make great companion plants for your vegetable or herb garden, as they attract beneficial insects like ladybugs, praying mantises, and wasps that deter pests like aphids and cabbage moths.
Gerardo Gonzalez loves cooking. He became interested in it at a young age, and has been honing his skills ever since. He enjoys experimenting with new recipes, and is always looking for ways to improve his technique.
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