dandelions: the teeth of the lion

the town i live in has banned herbicides and pesticides as part of an effort to try and turn back the tide of illness (both to humans and to the land and other living things exposed to it) resulting from their indiscriminate use over the past however many years. i stopped using both just over four years ago. my lawn was not as thick and lush as some of my neighbours’ lawns but i had the satisfaction of knowing that when their children came to play with my children, they were not coating themselves with a variety of chemicals that have been connected to a lengthy list of mental and physical ailments. then too there was, and still is, the satisfaction in our knowing that the property that we are borrowing from nature while we live on it is not being left with too much residual damage from our stay.

one side effect of the ban has been the proliferation of what are termed generically “weeds”. it’s a funny thing but “weeds” have never carried the negative connotation for me that is ascribed to them by so many people. i love their leaves for the variety of shapes and i especially love the flowers that they so often grow. people have become accustomed for example to consider the dandelion a weed. decried by gardeners, cursed by herbicide manufacturers, the dandelion was almost entirely eradicated from england through a concerted effort to remove it from the landscape. as a result, the dandelion had to be placed on the protected species list in order to prevent its extinction! oops!

happily, it is back in abundance! in defence of people who find the proliferation of dandelions to be a nuisance - yes, i can share your frustration with any plant that takes over a property. many plants possess this capacity. bluebells, are a classic example:
just near me is some municipal property. nominally “a park” it is an open space that adjoins a small woods. in the spring of the last two years it has become a nursery for tens of thousands of dandelions. in mid-spring, a carpet of yellow fills the park and for a brief while the field literally glows. here's a path i take into the nearby woods.
as you can see, the yellow flower dandelions have been quickly replaced by the infamous “puffballs” or “clocks” as they are called, at which time the air is filled with little fairy-like pieces of long-legged fluff, winging its way towards its new home. here is one little flower that has not undergone "the conversion" just yet!
closer . . . closer still . . .
just yesterday, i watched a rabbit in my backyard as it carefully bit away the base of the stem of a dandelion and then ate the stem right to the clock and amazingly, puffed hard enough at the critical moment to cause the clock to blow away. true story!!

dandelions evolved about thirty million years ago, making them relative newcomers but establishing them as substantially older than human beings as we know them. their name “dandelion” comes from the french “dent de lion” meaning lion's tooth, which is in reference to its coarsely-toothed leaves. dandelions can be made into dandelion wine which as well as being a very famous, very excellent ray bradbury novel, is a potable drink with some complex and intoxicating flavours. there are several recipes, some of which are available here. dandelions also constitute food for a variety of organisms including butterflies and moths, the aformentioned rabbits, as well as human beings.

the bottom line for me is that the approach to what are effectively wild flowers as something to be eradicated needs to change. there is no sustainable or supportable argument i have heard that explains the incredible efforts and resultant damage to nature accruing to the presence of dandelions and other wild plants on our planet.