God’s other book: Dandelions

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Just my humble opinion, but what’s not to love about dandelions?

They are among the first signs of spring, popping up in our yard even before the grass starts greening.

One can’t help but admire their irrepressible resiliency. These masters of survival can grow up through cracks in a sidewalk and thrive.

Many pollinators rely on dandelions, violets and other early-spring wildflowers to provide nectar before other flowers begin to bloom.

Sadly, people use millions of gallons of herbicides each year to kill these delightful flowers, thus taking a terrible toll on the environment.

We’ve made the decision to keep our lawn chemical-free. Don’t worry, we do mow (though we put off the first mowing for as long as possible).

By about mid-spring, our entire yard has become a colorful dandelion-and-violet patch, which keeps the butterflies and bees very happy.

Even our resident chipmunks like the wildflowers.

And then there are the seed puffs. When I was a child, I loved plucking dandelions and blowing the seeds into the air.

I also loved hooking their long hollow stems together to make a necklace or bracelet.

If we must pull them up, the greens can be added to a salad. Some people also use them to make tea or wine.

I saw the paperweight and necklace below on Etsy. What will folks think of next?

So when others talk about getting rid of dandelions, I always want to ask this one-word question: “Why?”

I don’t know about anyone else, but I love my dandelions! And I’m letting them stay exactly where they are.

38 thoughts on “God’s other book: Dandelions”

  6. I so agree! They are delightful, so sunny and fun. For me, they evoke memories of my childhood. We lived outside of the city in Chester, New York, and blowing dandelion seeds into the air was so much fun as we roamed around nature!

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  7. Your love for dandelions shines brightly in this post, and it’s so refreshing to read! Here’s a fun fact you might enjoy: Dandelions are not only nutritious for us but have also been used in traditional medicine for centuries. They have potential anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which have been explored in various forms of traditional remedies. Keep embracing these resilient beauties and all the joy they bring!

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  8. Loved your reflection on dandelions and so agree with you, Debi! Dandelions are so needed for so very many wonder-filled reasons. Thanks so much for sharing your insights, your wisdom!

    Bernice

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  11. I agree in thinking the flowers are beautiful and the puffy seeds fascinating, but your neighbors probably did not appreciate your blowing them into their yard! 😂 I fertilize, but try to minimize the chemicals, but i respect your choice, and if you lived to my southwest I would not complain. (That’s from where our weather comes.😉)

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  12. I always wonder at the technical issues: a marvel that the one who cast the paperweight could manage it without disturbing the delicate structure of the dandelion seed head. I had a neighbor, recently deceased, who was punished in high school with the assignment of digging dandelions in the school football field. Even in his later years, seeing dandelions flourish made him happy.

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  14. I have a picture of a honeybee on a dandelion I was going to make into a shirt that says ‘Dandelion lives matter’. 🙂 We humans aren’t very bright – we struggle to grow lettuce and other greens when dandelions grow everywhere. The flowers, leaves and roots are edible and healthier than most veggies we eat. My only question is if I grew a patch of dandelions for food would I weed it? LOL!

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  17. I like all of your writing, but this one is especially lovely!

    My first editor, Dick Smyser of The Oak Ridger back in Tennessee, used to write an editorial every year about how much he liked dandelions because they were foolhardy enough to blossom before the other flowering plants. If there were a Dick Smyser Award for blog posts, I would nominate you for this one!

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