ON DANDELIONS

Well, I thought perhaps this year was the year. I was so fed up with the dandelions that I thought I was going to finally break down and call a company to come out and treat our lawn. I am tired of them invading my flower beds and thought that ridding the grass of them would alleviate this problem, and it most likely would. But earlier this spring as I was watching our bird feeders and all our visitors, I saw something I had never seen before. This was not for it being something new I'm sure, but rather that I simply had never been privy to its happening before. I watched as an American Tree Sparrow went about picking dandelion seeds straight from the heads of the flowers and wolfing them down heartily. I first felt guilt at the thought of taking away a food source for the birds. My next thought was how do I get the birds to eat MORE dandelion seeds? So, my initial urge to call a lawn company dissipated and a little, then more time passed, and then came the butterflies. My daughters and I were outside one warm spring day chasing great spangled fritillaries, painted ladies, and red admirals when we started seeing monarchs and hummingbird moths. We watched in amazement as the monarchs and hummingbird moths both drank nectar from the dandelions. Well, that was it, I was now quite convinced that I was no longer interested in attempting to eradicate the dandelions in my yard. I mean, in many countries their greens are eaten and seen as a delicacy, so they couldn't be all that bad. Funny thing was, a few weeks later my mother gave me a newspaper column (she often cuts and saves for me newspaper columns, articles, coupons, and even clothing adverts with notes next to them saying "this would look good on you") and this column was all about dandelions and whether or not they were a weed. The author of this opinion piece talked about the age at which a child "learns" that dandelions are not flowers but rather weeds and the sadness a child feels when their unwanted bouquet is cast aside by parents. While I had already made up my mind to leave the dandelions in the grass, I have to admit I found myself starting to feel as the author of the column felt about dandelions, that they were an ornament, just as any other flower, and I came to even deeper peace about my yellow laden lawn and my decision to leave it that way.