7 Garden Bugs I Loved Last Summer

In The Garden
Written By Ellen Kilmer

…and 2 that I Could Do Without

It’s not that I’m a bug person, necessarily. I’m just proud of my garden for being the place these critters wanna hang.

It’s also super chill that many of them are important native pollinators and help regulate the garden ecosystem. 

To the bugs that didn’t make it onto this list: you can’t read, so you shouldn’t be offended. I only included the ones that genuinely made me excited when I spotted them.

Spiders and centipedes are great and all, but they give off heeby-jeeby vibes.

And to the two garden crashers at the bottom: please know I don’t discount your contribution to the ecosystem (whatever that is), but we cannot be friends. Mosquitoes: it’s self-defense if I murder you while you’re sucking my blood. And aphids: you need to chill out on that whorled milkweed. My toddler shares better than you.

The Seven Garden Bugs I Loved

Monarch Caterpillar & Butterfly

But like…who doesn’t squeal when they see a monarch? This summer, I’m determined to find a chrysalis.

Swallowtail Caterpillar & Butterfly

Runway chic. Absolutely fashion-forward. No notes.

Great Black Wasp

TERRIFYING. But in a Mrs. White from Clue kind of way. Dramatic and alluring, but harmless until provoked. Respect.

Fireflies

Instant childhood nostalgia. Pro tip: you get more of them when you leave the leaves. Yes, really.

Ladybugs

Get those aphids, girls. Icons of beneficial insects everywhere.

Hummingbird Moth

This one blew my mind. I’d never seen one before and only spotted it once. I couldn’t reach for my phone to grab a photo because I was afraid to look away. My jaw is still dropped.

Bees (Solitary & Honey Bees)

Always a delight. Multiple varieties, endless joy. I still wish I could pet their little fuzzy bellies.

The Bottom Two (Hard Pass)

Aphids

Just…gross. Yellow ones covered my whorled milkweed stems. If I brushed against a stem, they’d instantly die and their carcasses would smear yellow all over my arm or pants. Not chill.

I’ve dealt with aphids before and did absolutely nothing about it. The next year, they weren’t a problem. My working theory is that a glut one year leads to a healthy predator population the next. Fingers crossed.

Mosquitoes

Self-explanatory. Just no.

How to Encourage Good Bugs in the Garden

If you want more beneficial insects and pollinators, here’s what actually helps:

  • Leave the leaves
     Use fallen leaves as winter mulch; shred leftovers for leaf mold.

  • Allow some spaces to get messy.
     Bugs love the resulting nooks and crannies.

  • Embrace imperfection
     A slightly wild garden is a bug-friendly garden.

  • Build a dead hedge (or dead pile in my case)
     Again: nooks and crannies.

  • Avoid pesticides and herbicides
     They kill far more than the bugs you’re targeting and disrupt the whole ecosystem.

How to Discourage the Bad Bugs (Without Chemicals)

The secret? Welcome the good bugs and put down the pesticides.

The bugs we hate are food for the bugs we love—ladybugs eat aphids, birds eat insects, and birds come to your yard because of bugs. It’s all connected.

Just like humans, there are bugs we like, bugs we’re neutral about, and bugs we can’t stand. And just like (most) humans, they all contribute something important.

I’ll try to remember that the next time a mosquito bites me or a dipshit driver cuts me off.

Ellen Kilmer
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Plant Spotlight: Sunflowers (Helianthus)