As I see posts on Facebook about how “invasive” and horrible the dandelions are, I am prompted to print a poem I wrote a couple of years ago and posted on my former blog, Whole Life Gardening.
A Verse for the Cursed
Oh Dandelion, I watch you grow
And wonder why we hate you so
Your cheerful yellow flowers sing
In celebration, “See? It’s spring!”
You’re very hardy there’s no doubt
You grow in cold or wet or drought
Yet most will hate you in the lawn
And so the battle lines are drawn
People snub and turn up noses
If Taraxacum invades the roses
And turf that’s filled with flowers bright
Make neighbors shudder at such blight
So out come tools and toxic spraying
No cost is spared in dande-slaying
And still this plant will find a way
To grow and bloom another day
Dear dandelion I offer rhyme
To humble plants whose only crime
Is to be willing and omnipresent
Despite the poisons, most unpleasant
Kids have the wisdom to appraise
Your flowers good for small bouquets
And even if it’s viewed as treason
I’m with them in dandy-season.
This is what I choose for my lawn to look like. Grass, clover, dandelions and assorted weeds. I suggest that the era of the mono-culture lawn is dead.
