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My hop bine once looked as if it could command a good bit of our terrace railing, even after an aphid infestation. Then my neighbor neglected to water it enough while we were on vacation. Then it suffered more during a hot, dry spell where one day without water was too much. Then last weekend I found it almost leafless and covered in caterpillars, disgusting spiny caterpillars. I pushed them off or cut the leaf stalks they were clinging to, letting them fall to the pavement below. When I found them trying to crawl back up the buliding wall, I crushed them.

I thought I got them all. I was wrong. I missed one.

This one has eaten its last leaf too.

The few green leaves you see are new. The hop plant survives.