(Time-lapse video below
It’s spring! Sort of. Actually, we’re still in Sprinter where I live, so it’s snow shovels one day and flip-flops and shades the next. But the dandelions can’t be fooled. Fake-daisy-delions are popping up all over our yard, even amid the patches of snow.
Why should it matter? They’re kind of cute, and many people–who don’t have lawns to mow–love them. But thanks to those croquet-mad Victorians and a voracious lawn care industry, millions of lawn-owners slavishly strive to maintain yards full of thick virginal grass–and nothing else!
Good luck with that. I’m no purist. I like my Scott’s-free yard full of cheerful violets and pithy inedible strawberries. But those tiny white-flowered onions and the king of all interlopers–the dandelions–I can live without. So I crawl around on my hands and knees every spring, pulling up flowers before they can seed a thousand more of their brethren. Hence the title of this post:
Damnedelions!
Why? I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with dandelions: Love the flowers, but hate the forest of bare poles that remains after the pods fly away, and the ugly, jaggy, ground-hugging leaves. Which, it turns out, are the source of the plant’s name; dandelion means “lion’s teeth” in French. In fact, we North Americans have the French to thank for introducing dandelions, along with bikinis and snails (one hit and one miss). Early settlers here made salads out of dandelions and brewed “coffee” from their seeds.
I always thought there were two types of dandelions: the happy little pseudo-daisies and the magical puff-balls every child knows are used as public transportation by faeries. But I was wrong. It turns out they’re the same plant. After those cute little yellow flowers wilt and turn ugly, the seeds gather into a sphere called a “clock.” There’s a cool time-exposure video of the process below.
Anyway, love ’em or hate ’em, they’re tenacious invaders. Kinda like humans.
I love the term ‘sprinter’ Mitch 😎
Damnedelions, that made me smile, loved the post
Thanks, Paul.
Though we blog from different perspectives, I really enjoy your writing, which is why I haunt you, haha. The time-lapse video was quite moving. To me, dandelions are an icon of childhood.
It’s an honor to be haunted by you, Danica. ;>)
I love ’em. Grandma made a hot dandelion salad with a bacon dressing. A nearby church hosted a springtime ham and dandelion supper which drew folks from hundreds of miles away. And of course there was Grandpa’s dandelion wine. Hmmmm
Wow! We’ll have to harvest them and try a recipe or two one of these days.
I like the video, even with the melodramatic music. 😉
What gets me is that apparently it takes two weeks to go from flower to seed head. Yet again, proof I’m one lazy gardener!
I feel ya.
I’m overrun with dandelions so take my advice with a grain of salt, but an easy way to get rid of them is to take a tea kettle of hot water out in the morning and water them. They don’t like boiling water and the neighbors tend to think you’re batty having a mad tea party in your yard, so they tend to stay away too. It’s kind of win-win. 🙂
So, apart from the neighbors (who already think I’m a mad hatter), does boiling water kill the plants/flowers, or just annoy them?
They tend to wilt immediately, turn black and disappear. Sounds very murderous, doesn’t it? It works best when it’s sunny out. If it’s still snowing and cold, they often get cooled and repair themselves too quickly.
Sounds worth a try! Does it kill the plant, or just the flower?
I’m with you; not a fan of these insidious plants. However… seeing them appear in my yard brings with it the sweet anticipation of warm weather. So there’s that. Loved the video!
Great video. I grew up with lots of them in Virginia. My father didn’t care about them …just mowed them along with everything else.
I’m fighting the same losing battle with dandelions. Sigh.
1) Sprinter – excellent. Lol. 2) I’m terribly sorry, but that time lapse video made me like dandelions EVEN MORE. 3) While I don’t have a lawn to mow here in LA, I sure did in Iowa! A HUGE one haha. But I still <3 Dandelions. Because they were one of the first pretty things to come up after a hard winter (or sprinter)
You’re forgiven.
🙂 Yay!
Damndelions and sprinter. Two great new words.
;>)
I remember part of a poem I read as a kid. The only lines I remember are…
“Gold shall turn to silver soon.
And all shall blow away.”
Beautiful lines.
I wish I could remember the whole thing and who wrote it.
Fun post! I watched the video but got kind of distracted by all the aphids. 🙂
;>) Yeah, I noticed those too.
I love that title!
“Love the flowers, but hate the forest of bare poles that remains after the pods fly away, and the ugly, jaggy, ground-hugging leaves.” and so much agree with that sentiment.
“tenacious invaders” The best of the best, and it’s all so delightfully good.
Right now a ‘damnedelion’ or better still, a buttercup, would be a gift from the heavens.
Snow is falling fast and furiously, the wind is howling, and it feels like February. This,
too, shall pass and in a week or so I’ll be blissfully irked by those ‘damnedelions’
Here’s to ‘Sprinter’. Can Spring be far behind?
Thanks, Sarah! We had both snow and dandelions the day I wrote this. Now I’m in a race against time to delete them before they replicate!
good luck! : )
I love the term “Sprinter!” I hope you don’t mind, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to be stealing it…..
I’ll send you my standard royalty contract.
And your check will be in the mail…..