Amateur Gardening – 13 July 2019

13 JULY 2019AMATEUR GARDENING 37

Write to us:Ask John, Amateur Gardening magazine,

Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park,

Farnborough, Hants, GU14 7BF.

Email us:[email protected]

Q

What is this caterpillar chewing

up my verbascum?

Barbara Lindsey, Telford, Shropshire

A

The beautiful but voracious

caterpillar is that of mullein moth

(Cucullia verbasci). Omnivorous, it also

feeds on figwort and will occasionally

have a go at buddleja.

Eggs are laid in May and caterpillars

feed from June to July. There is usually

one generation a year. Pupation takes

place in August, in large cocoons

constructed well below the soil surface.

Moths emerge the following April or

May, but embryo (immature) moths can

remain in pupae for up to five years.

If you leave the caterpillars they will

decimate your plants and many more will

appear next year. Admire them, study

them, but control them – otherwise you

will regret it in years to come.

Start by hand-picking them but, if

damage continues, spray your bush

with a contact insecticide such as

Vitax Py-Spray Garden Insect Killer.

Don’t tolerate this striped menace

Q

Are soldier beetles and lily beetles

the same thing? They look very

similar to each other.

Keith Gilbert, via email

A

The soldier beetle and lily beetle

are in fact different species.

The former is a useful garden ally,

Advice needed about identifying beetles

Mullein moths are attracted to

several garden plants

Q

What is this plant that has self-

seeded in my garden?

Beth Sparks,

Nottingham

A

It is an

apple of

Peru or shoo-fly

plant (Nicandra

physalodes).

Though a member

of the poisonous

nightshade family (Solanaceae), it is

only slightly toxic.

The only problem is that if you

allow it to seed, innumerable self-

sown seedlings usually appear the

following year.

Quick questions

& answers

Q

This is growing

in my nan’s

garden – is it

friend or foe?

Vicky Southern,

Bath

A

This plant is

called viper’s

bugloss (Echium

vulgare ‘Blue Bedder’), and it is

related to the herb borage.

It is a hardy annual growing from

seed each year and is perfect for

border edges or rockeries. Bees,

butterflies and other pollinating

insects love it.

This is growing

called viper’s

Q

How should I propagate this

pretty geum?

Patricia Johnson, Bury, Lancs

A

The best way to propagate

your Geum ‘Mrs J. Bradshaw’ is

to divide the clump now into chunky

well-rooted portions. Reset them

12in (30cm) apart in a sunny spot in

fertile soil.

Mulch with

composted

manure to

conserve

moisture in dry

weather. It’s a

lovely variety

and flowers well.

Soldier beetles are a

gardener’s friend

seeded in my garden?

Though a member

and flowers well.

with both adults and larvae eating pests,

including aphids and slugs, whereas the

lily beetle is a pest, with both adults and

larvae eating lily plants and potentially

decimating them.

Also similar in appearance is the

cardinal beetle, but this is also a friend

as the larvae eat other insects.

Lily beetles are a menace

Cardinal beetle larvae eat pests
Alamy

Wikicommons