Even the so-called safe insecticides like BT, Insecticidal Soap and Dormant Oil spray can kill butterflies and caterpillars too.

As I was recently perusing the newspaper I noted under the "This Week in the Garden" column, a line which said it was time to use dormant oil spray.

Dormant oil spray is a light weight oil that is mixed with water and sprayed on bushes and trees usually to control insects.

Unfortunately, no one told the butterflies that they were insects, so in your rush to kill all the "bad" bugs you're probably killing the beautiful utterflies also.

Dormant oil spray works by covering eggs and everything else with a fine oil, so the living creature inside can't breathe.

Butterflies, depending on the species, hibernate in your garden in all four stages; egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. When you spray with the oil, it might cover any or all of these stages.

Save your money please. Put the sprayer back in the garage and give the butterflies a chance this spring.