Guests in your urban garden

A while back when the weather here in Singapore was much sunnier, I was lounging around with the dogs and thinking of ways to 'insecticide" the plants on my balcony while keeping it safe for the pets. My cat, in particular, loves young shoots, new leaves. It's insane how much her chewing habits resembles that of a panda, actually. I am crying a little here as I recall the recent damage she's done to my bamboo.

But I digress. That sunny afternoon, I was thinking of the problems I'd encountered with some of the insects. The aphids and mealy-bugs were clearly guests I can do without. As I was thinking and semi-admiring the plants, I noticed a beautiful butterfly flitting from one flower to the next. I'd had moths and wasps hovering around some of my plants before but never a butterfly as pretty as this one. I remember excitedly pointing (in vain) at the butterfly and attempting to direct my dogs' attention to a beautiful sample of nature right at the balcony. I really regret not taking any photos of the beautiful thing; I should have because it would have been a nice memory of what I thought was a very welcome guest.

A couple days after the visit, I noticed a couple of my plants "balding". I naturally assumed that my cat'd been helping herself to the green buffet and was too lazy to do a thorough check till the weekend. By then, my mint and basil had been cleanly devoured and was bald beyond the point of no return. It was then that I noticed the guest I so welcomed earlier in the week had left a very unwelcome present for me - at least two caterpillars!!

The only evidence left of my unwelcome guest

In the end, after a big fuss and much horror, I had help removing the caterpillars and this time, bothered to find my camera for a picture. There were actually two different kinds of caterpillars living among my plants and if you find this green one gross, you'd have freaked at the sight of the other brown ones; deceptively dead-looking but very much alive. I've been trying to actively suppress my memory of the brown caterpillars since...

I definitely learnt a big lesson here: Beauty really comes at a cost. I paid two of my plants for a 5-second glimpse of beauty in my garden. Do you think it was worth it?

Somehow, I doubt I will ever see butterflies with the same joy again....