Pat Kiewicz wrote:
Mike Spencer said:
Just did that. We've had problems long ago with cutworms chewing
tender seedings right off at the ground. Web info suggests that's
characteristic.

These are "teen-age" plants, in bloom or just setting fruit, with
quite sturdy stems. The damaged plants aren't cut off, just girdled.

Well, we do have an enormous variety and number of moths here so I
guess that's a candidate answer but the damage isn't, AFAICT, typical
of cutworm attack.

I lost a fairly mature eggplant transplant this year to a cutworm,
which managed to girdle the stem and weaken it to the point that it
fell over
in the breeze. Absolutely was a cutworm, as I found it, squished it,
and flipped it at the nearest robin.

Plant ended up a total loss but since it was an extra I'd tucked in
at the end of the bed and was too close to the patch of Anthemis* I
wasn't
that upset about it.

*I have various herbs and flowers in my vegetable garden mainly to
attract and feed bees and hoverflies. Anthemis tinctoria 'Kelwayi'
is one of them.

A quick search found this about flowers for pollinators:
http://www.foxleas.com/flower_shapes.htm

Excellent article , thanks !

--
Snag