Tis dandelion season and I'll admit: I love the little buggers. Their fuzzy, cheery yellow faces, the long, thick milky stalks, and their resilience--they can pop up in the damndest places. When we've had months of dead brown grass and piles of snow, something about those happy yellow flowers makes me smile. Seeing an entire clearing of dandelions takes me back to my childhood. We'd comb the ditches, pick bundles of the flowers, give a few to Mom (they were always dead and closed up the next morning) then we'd make necklaces and bracelets and rings. When my daughters were younger, they brought me "bouquets" like I'd brought my mom. I taught them how to make chains with the stems. We talked about great-grandma making her infamous dandelion wine. One little weed...so many memories. So yeah, I'm a little resistant to weed n' feed.
So...dandelions. Weed or flower? Love 'em or hate 'em?
Love 'em. I used to make those chains too -- and have gotten many dandelion bouquets from my daughter. I'd love to try dandelion wine, too -- and what other flower can you make a wish on?
Posted by: AlisonGaylin | April 22, 2010 at 08:26 AM
love those greens. tasty.
Posted by: Kieran | April 22, 2010 at 08:45 AM
Happy Earth Day!
I have always loved dandelions! The fields of wildflowers in my area, are breathtakingly beautiful. I enjoy them so much more than the contrived gardens filled with non-native species. Mother Nature has a great sense of color and style...and it's not nice to fool with Mother Nature.
Posted by: Donna | April 22, 2010 at 09:03 AM
Yard is full of them right now. Until the lawn mower goes out this weekend. Not too fond of the little weeds.
Posted by: Karen Olson | April 22, 2010 at 02:25 PM
I love the little guys. All those memories of childhood combined with my grownup desire for my lawn to fully return to the wild makes them irresistable.
Posted by: David Terrenoire | April 22, 2010 at 02:36 PM
Weed. Hate. Bastards.
Posted by: Jeff Shelby | April 22, 2010 at 09:56 PM
This morning I took particular notice of the dandelions in the yard. And do you know that the squirrels have eaten the tops off every one of them! We have an amazing number of squirrels this year, and I guess they're really hungry.
Posted by: Karen Olson | April 23, 2010 at 08:04 AM
Weed. My oldest son is afraid of dandelions.
Posted by: Gerard | April 23, 2010 at 08:31 AM
I like dandelions. The kids love to blow the puffballs and pick the flowers, and while I've never tried to make it, I hear dandelion wine is sunshine in a bottle.
Posted by: Charlene Teglia | April 23, 2010 at 09:05 AM
Weed. Meet Roundup.
Posted by: Jake Nantz | April 23, 2010 at 10:31 AM