DANDELIONS

When dandelions try to take over your yard as they do mine sometimes, the first thing I think of now, is getting rid of them.

How  Interesting, we spend time and money on cultivating all the other flowers in our yard , but fail to see the beauty in  these cheerfully yellow flowers.

Though this may seem hard for us to believe,their presence is actually  deemed good for the farmers and for our backyard gardens because they attract bees.

I venture to say,Dandelions are more popular  with the birds and  bees than with us people. This perennial flower is often thought of as annoying weeds, that somehow needs to be pulled up by the roots and destroyed as soon as possible.

 Bumble bees, honey bees, beetles, hover flies and even butterflies use the nectar from the flowers as food. House Sparrows and Goldfinches love eating their seeds. 

The Dandelion with all its enemies has learned how to survive despite mans most vigorous attempts at destroying them.

Dandelions will sneak into your flower garden and  min-gal with the other flowers, they will try growing in the
 cracks  and crevices of your side-walks and drive-way, and many other clever places, they' do what ever it takes to survive.

When I was a kid growing up in Kentucky, we thought it was fun to pick some of them once their blooms died and blow on them and watch the fluffy seedlings disappear into the wind.

Of course our yards of yesterday were never manicured  and groomed like the ones we have today. We thought it was cute to have the dandelion growing in our yard to help cover the bare spots.

And their presence helped mother somewhat in keeping the floors in our house clean from all the dirt, 10 kids could track in, on a rainy day.

So you can see from my point of view as a kid, no matter what poplar opinion might have to say about this con trivial flower; the beauty Dandelions  brought to our yards, was a welcome site, each spring and early summer.

Coleman Schell