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Dandelions : The little weeds that roar !
BY LORRAINE ROSE
Upon the green flowerless land Could a summer ’ s field turn bright ? Would a thousand golden flowerballs Emerge whilst it is night ?
Come day I ’ ll watch their lionheads As they slowly turn to milky grey . Then I ’ ll hold one in my hand and blow ! And my wish will fly away !
Who hasn ’ t picked a precious dandelion , come summer , and blown its tiny seeds up into the sky ? And if those little parachutes are captured by a gentle breeze they can travel as far away as five miles from their birthplace . Oh , the powers of the humble dandelion ! What other flower can provide such magic and wish fulfillment ?
On the other hand , there are those who ’ d never praise its wonders . There are those who curse it and wish to extinguish its golden heads with pesticides and grum- bles — a blight on a perfectly manicured lawn ! But did you know that before the common suburban lawn , gardeners would weed out the grass to make room for dandelions ? Sometime in the last century , however , people decided that dandelions were weeds . In fact , some say they are the most unpopular plant in the neighborhood .
Unpopular , perhaps , but not unhealthy ! In Chinese traditional medicine dandelions have been used for over a thousand years . Dandelions even arrived in North America on the Mayflower as prized passengers , brought purposely for their medicinal benefits . They are like a growing first aid kit . People have been using dandelion tonic to help their body ’ s liver remove toxins from the bloodstream . They have been prescribed through the ages for almost every ailment — from warts to the plague , from baldness to dandruff , as well as toothaches , fevers , weakness and depression ! And when scurvy was a most dreaded word , it was used successfully to treat vitamin deficiencies ! Basically , they are more nutritious than almost all of the vegetables you might grow in your garden .
For better or for worse , dandelions have one of the longest flowering seasons of any plant , and a single plant can produce over 5,000 seeds a year . The bumblebees certainly appreciate that ! As do butterflies , honeybees , mason bees , and hoverflies . Sparrows , goldfinches and indigo buntings are just a few of the many songbirds that happily devour dandelion seeds . They have been found in the diets of wild turkeys , rabbits , white-tailed deer and eastern chipmunks , too .
And for those of you still determined to remove all signs of dandelions from your lawns , I have wonderful news for you . They are actually good for your lawn ! Their roots spread wide and loosen hard packed soil , while aerating the earth and reducing erosion . Those same roots help pull nutrients from deep in the soil and make them available to your other beautiful plants . They are actually a lawn fertilizer ! Who knew ?
When re-casting Masters of the Universe , think of the dandelion . They can take root in the most obscure places — through cement and gravel and in lonely barren habitats . They find homes in cracks of walls and sidewalks and are almost impossible to get rid of . Like the famous Hydra who grew two new heads for every one decapitated , a dandelion ’ s roots clone when divided . If you leave a piece of dandelion root in the ground ,