This has been a different kind of year for me as a gardener. Never have I had to battle the bugs like this year! They are really attacking my zinnia crop.
Of course, some of the plants are there just for the caterpillars, like the fennels. I have one regular fennel and one, much larger, bronze fennel. The bronze plant is just loaded with swallowtail caterpillars. This means that in a few weeks we’ll be full of beautiful butterflies.

The purple cone flowers in the background attract butterflies, too. Luckily the weeds are not seen in these shots.

Here’s a close up of one of the big guys on a fennel bloom.