# Dandelions and lawnmowers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284 "2010-05-13T11:20:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284/41 "2010-05-14T20:37:16Z")
Violets? Yawn. I wish I had violets. Try dealing with a few dozen square meters of creeping buttercup. My god. I’ve resorted to seeding my lawn with chewed-up wild strawberries to compete. Rhizome war! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284/42 "2010-05-14T20:55:39Z")
Wild onions (actually triquetrous leek) are the weed enemy in my garden - the plant reproduces by seed and division - hundreds of tiny bulbils that bud off the main one - it’s impossible to get them all out and they just keep regrowing. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284/43 "2010-05-14T20:55:59Z")
Maybe I’m stirring up trouble for nothing, but I’m a little suspicious of people who wage all-out war on dandelions, complete with hazardous chemicals that run off into the water supply (hey, I drink that water too!) and then go to the nursery and pay a premium to buy plants with yellow flowers! Dandelions: - are hardy - require little to no maintenance or supplemental watering - are edible - bloom with a clear, bright, pretty lemon-yellow color - re-bloom reliably - offer interesting seedheads - come back year after year I can’t think offhand of any other plant that fits every single last one of those requirements. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284/44 "2010-05-14T22:31:44Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think \*\*Colophon \*\*was just talking about rosettes of very prostrate leaves on plants in the lawn vs rosettes of vigorous, erect leaves on plants elsewhere. Yes. [Here’s](http://www.inmygarden.org/archives/DANDELION-LEAVES700X435.jpg) and example of what the leaves look like on undisturbed dandelions. In the lawn they’re much [flatter](http://www.fertilome.com/media/Shared/Weeds/Dandelion.bmp). BTW is the “wild lettuce” that has been mentioned the same as what we call [“cat’s ear”](http://www.greencastonline.com/TenacityHerbicide/Images/weedsgrasses/CatsearDandelion.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284/45 "2010-05-14T22:40:48Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > BTW is the “wild lettuce” that has been mentioned the same as what we call [“cat’s ear”](http://www.greencastonline.com/TenacityHerbicide/Images/weedsgrasses/CatsearDandelion.jpg)? That’s the Hawkweed (I thought so). Wild lettuce is a common roadside weed - tall with big paddle-shaped leaves that stick out all over like jug ears. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Lactuca_virosa.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Lactuca_virosa.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284/46 "2010-05-15T05:17:45Z")
**purplehorseshoe** , the only difference between a weed and a beloved plant is whether it’s wanted or not. I don’t want dandelions, hence they are weeds. I do want violas, so they are beloved plants. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284/47 "2010-05-15T05:52:20Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > I have gone on a full-on assault of the stupid wild violet, though. You might enjoy our [last spring’s rant on the subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=514703). (Warning: linked thread extinct in April 2009, do not resuscitate.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284/48 "2010-05-15T06:33:52Z")
I want to have **purplehorseshoe** for a neighbor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dandelions-and-lawnmowers/539284.md?page=2)