Dandelions: the flowers we love to hate

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August 4, 2008 in Anecdotes, Poetry, Uncategorized | No comments

Of all the infinite variety of flora on the face of the earth, few get more universal attention than the ubiquitous dandelion. The hallmark of a successful suburbanite is a lawn with every blade of grass a uniform shade of deep green, each blade cut to exactly the same height. And then one day in the midst of that sea of green, a bright yellow spot appears – vivid and unmistakable amongst the carpet of green – and with a cry of anguish, the formerly contented home owner rushes to the spot by way of the garage shelf and rids his environs of the hated blotch of yellow, administering a lethal dose of weedkiller or severing its deep tap root with a long sharp instrument and relegating the intrusive herb to the trash can en route to its final resting place in the city dump.

And yet after ridding the lawn of the single pest, our homeowner drives through the country and admires the abundant sea of yellow against the diverse field of green, a hundred different shades and everything of varying heights, not at all like suburban Harry Home Owner’s lawn. While we admire the Lord’s meadow, we slave to make our lawn just the opposite.

The little yellow flower, the same that we spend our midlife abolishing, holds a million childhood memories that are too soon outgrown. The first bouquet, tightly clutched in the hand of a child, the dandelion chains created from the stems by inserting the small stem end into the large end, and adding links until the chain finally breaks of its own weight. And then when the yellow blossom morphed into the delicate gray spherical seed head, we blew on it and watched the little seed parachutes sail off with the breeze, to begin the process all over again in some unsuspecting neighbor’s yard, or hopefully to a more welcome and inviting setting in another of the Lord’s meadows.

Beyond the childhood memories the dandelions evoke, there is much more cause to give them safe haven instead of a shot of herbicide. They are a highly edible herb, making the basis for a great salad. A serving of uncooked dandelion greens provides a whopping dose of beta carotene and a good start on the daily requirement for vitamin C and vitamin A. With this versatile plant, one can make dandelion soup, dandelion jam, and even dandelion fritters. Besides all that, they attract lady bugs and they aerate the soil.

So lest we be hasty and curse at the thought
Of a dandelion influx in our pristine plot,
Take a moment to think about all the good things
That a dandelion crop in the neighborhood brings.

R.W. Johnson