Cause & Effect

Over the weekend, my garden received a small shower (about .3 inches).  Even though completely devoid of foliage for quite some time, it only took the Zephyr Lilies (Zephyranthes 'Labuffarosea') until Monday morning to start sending up blooms.

By the afternoon, a nice little clump of light pink flowers brightened the garden path.

Because I allowed my parsley to go to seed, it attracted several Black Swallowtail caterpillars which seemed to enjoy eating the taller, blooming stalks.  Various sizes of the brightly-colored larvae could be spotted up & down the plant.  Monday night, I found one that had crawled across the path and up a nearby Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) where it had suspended itself from one of the branches.

By Tuesday morning, the caterpillar had transformed into a light green chrysalis.  At some point down the line, the transformation will be complete as an adult swallowtail will emerge.