I have good news and bad news.
First the bad news, and not unexpected, sadly.
Not a single shred of leaf left on the swan plant. A couple of hungry caterpillars still climbing on it forlornly, as well as several optimistically (desperately) roaming around nearby inedible plants.
On the other hand, I found these:
On the right you can see a brand new chrysalis, which means at least one of this latest crop of caterpillars has made it this far in it’s development. Even better though, is the remains of an old chrysalis on the left, which means the previous bunch of caterpillars, which I thought had all died, managed to produce at least one butterfly. So, the season hasn’t been a complete washout.
I’m still seriously considering pulling out the swan plant, though, and replacing it with something less stressful. Thoughts?