I have a little pot on my porch filled with herbs: rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and Italian parsley. I'm not much of a cook, though I would like to be. But when I do make one of the few things I make well, there's nothing like the taste of fresh herbs, so I try to keep a supply on hand.

I went out to snip a bit of parsley last week, and noticed that most of the parsley had been eaten. It didn't take long to discover the culprit: a green, white, and yellow striped caterpillar, munching yet another stalk of parsley down to nothing. My little herb garden was playing host to a Black Swallowtail caterpillar, and, rather than being annoyed at the loss of the parsley, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to watch this creature develop and eventually become one of my state's prettiest butterflies. But it was becoming clear that the little guy was going to run out of food very soon, and that, when he did, he'd move on, trying to find more. So I went out and bought two more parsley plants, hoping to keep him happy. He ate his fill, and when he was ready to make his chrysalis, he moved into the shrubs near the porch and did his thing.

Just because I'm kind of geeky that way, I went online to learn as much as I could about our guest, and stumbled across a forum in which a member wrote in requesting information about what chemical to use to kill the swallowtail caterpillars that were eating all of her parsley. Several other members wrote in, reminding her that it was a butterfly, surprised that anyone would want to kill it. Her response, after several such comments, was that the Black Swallowtail is not a protected species, and she doesn't feel bad about killing them if it will save her parsley. Another member finally named her weapon of choice, and the discussion ended.

I was with most of the other members, shocked that someone would want to kill such a beautiful creature over parsley. Parsley doesn't even do all that much for the flavor of food, in my most humble opinion.

What do you think of this? What side of the issue do you fall on, and are all of those other forum members who chastised this woman (yours truly included) being too judgmental? Please share your insights in our forum. I'm really curious to see what other organic gardeners think.

But I'm trying to be better at it, because I know that in no time, I will be in the middle of a long, dark Michigan winter, and only the act of caring for houseplants will whet my appetite for working with soil. If, like me, you could use help in the basics of houseplant care, be sure to check out About Houseplants guide Jon VanZile's articles. He's recently published a great article on potting and repotting houseplants, which is one of those issues that many people seem to have trouble with.

Am I the only one who has an easier time gardening out in the elements than inside in a more controlled environment? Come on....I can't be the only one! Tell me about your houseplant (mis)adventures in the comments!