Two of my close friends recently visited Monet’s Garden in Giverny and came back with a gift for me – a wonderful book detailing the garden’s history and planting calendar. I was particularly struck by the use of wallflower ‘Ruby Gem’ and as I had already sown a tray of bright red wallflower seeds with some success, sought out and managed to find a packet of seeds on Amazon.

They germinated quickly and were well on the way to pricking out time – yesterday. This evening I was dismayed to find them looking distinctly chewed and after putting my reading glasses on, found the culprit – a caterpillar engulfing a seedling  – looked liked a cabbage white, which is highly likely as these butterflies were early visitors to the greenhouse in July. He (he?) wasn’t around long enough to take a picture (I threw him into the garden as my son wasn’t keen on extermination), but just look at the damage:

Not happy, but learned a lesson – keep my glasses on when watering and inspecting seedlings!