Golly, Helen, that does sound fun. NOT. Especially the slug part. I used to hunt them at dawn on my marigolds, but flipped them into a container with water.

Your three Four O'Clocks are really taking off. Should be beautiful this summer. Thanks again.
Sunny

I'll save my cutworms for you to squish Helen. I can't do that. ewww I just give mine a long pass into the field and hope a bird eats them before they find their way back.

I am so glad to find out the source of my problem that it seems like a victory to squash them. One can do a lot of damage. I had some kale leaves on my window sill in water hoping to watch hatching of green lace wing eggs and one green caterpillar ate about a fourth of a leaf when I wasn't looking. He must have been an egg because I had handled those leaves a lot. Now I am after Colorado potato beetle larva nasty looking things. I wonder where all that orange pigment comes from because they are only eating potatoes. One adult can lay 300 eggs I read so I am not letting them get to the adult stage.