The Triumph of the Caterpillar

Every year I have a battle with caterpillars eating the leaves off of my rose bushes. I pride myself in picking plants that really just need to be cut back a bit each fall - and then get Mr. Man to do it. So a few years ago, I noticed my beautiful rose bushes being attacked, and realized something needed to be done.

Soap and water, is what I was told, so each morning my son and I went out and "drowned" the suckers in an attempt to fend them off. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

But this summer I have had to let the caterpillars win. My daughter, an avid fan of nature programs on TV, has vowed her allegiance to the rose caterpillars and will not let anyone at them.

"They belong free to live in the wild," she says.

Why they can't go to someone else's wild is beyond me.

So come by early June to see my beautiful roses, but for the rest of the summer avoid walking by our retaining wall, as you may find one of my daughter's friends dropping onto your shoulder, enjoying the wild.