Did someone say there was something wrong with dandelions?
It’s annoying when someone blows one in your face and some of it goes in your mouth…
Er, I’m talking about dandelions ok.
Dandilions are actually useful–if the money’s a little short and you can’t feed your pets, dandilion greens will tide them over till payday. Make sure you don’t spray weedkiller before you feed them to you pets.
Crabgrass, on the other hand…don’t even get me started.
You know, I share your perplexity. As weeds go, they aren’t particularly ugly until they’ve finished flowering, and then they’re just those ugly stems with the huge, flat-leafed base. Not so attractive, but then again, I’m not lawn-proud and I never will be. I’ve always found the suburban fixation on The Perfect Lawn quixotic and a waste of enery. I weed my garden but not my lawn and I don’t plan to. Who cares?
My guess is that Crafter Man notices dandelions only when they’re blooming and wonders why folks want to keep them off their property?
Why I try to dig up dandelions from my so-called lawn: They look pretty for only a short time each year, and they crowd out the grass, and they don’t feel good to walk on barefoot any time, and they make croquet-playing a bit too random.
Of course, now I figure this is an in-joke and folks are going to laugh that I took it seriously. I’m actually a little bit hoping that to be so… sometimes I get such a kick out of embarrassing myself. Maybe I’m here to make people feel more competent by comparison.
No that job’s taken.
They’re my favorite flowers.
Sadly, I can’t put them in a vase inside. I wonder why they close when in water?
You can eat the stems-my dad once picked a bunch, washed them off and put them in a salad.
I apologize for being so cryptic. Anyway, I was referring to the obsession of many suburban homeowners who deem it necessary to pour tons of chemicals on their lawns in an effort to rid their property of this Evil Flower[sup]TM[/sup].
Well, if you want a manicured lawn that consists of nothing but bermuda or creeping bent grass, they’re an invader like any other. 
Plus, reel mowers can’t cut them well.
I love them, personally. The blossoms taste good in a salad and make a good wine. Just make sure if you are making wine that you don’t get any greens.
If you go to Silverton, CO, they get about 3-4" across. Beautiful!
I just realized we don’t get them here. Too dusty I guess. Maybe if we actually had a lawn, we’d get dandelions.
They smell good too, and I remember using the blossoms to “paint” my black lab with the very yellow pollen.
I luff dandelions!
Nothing. I like dandelions. I’ve said before that if they only grew at the summit of an unscaleable peak high in the Andes and bloomed only once every century, they’d be considered the most beautiful flowers on Earth and entire expeditions would perish in snowdrifts in vain attempts to pick one. As it is, we get 'em for nothing. Enjoy!
You can pick the yellow blossoms , rinse and put in water to boil to make a tea. This tea is a natural diuretic.
The yellow part, soaked in water makes a facial toner.
I have a recipe somewhere for dandelion wine as well as dandelion vinegar.
The leaves make a nice salad.
The roots, I’ve been told, can be browned up in a pan and then used for coffee ( if you were really desperate.)
Everything, but the stem, is edible.
I think they are the red headed stepchild of the horticultural world.
The OP would have a rolleye festival at my new neighbor. This guy is just as obsessed with his huge front lawn as the guy who sold and moved. He mows every few days, has one of those lawn Hoovers, and walks a few miles spreading Scotts stuff everywhere.
Did I mention all of the houses around here are surrounded by 100’ trees? This is the doggone woods, but hey-if that’s how you want to spend your life, go for it. The annoying part is constantly having something running next door.
I’ve always like dandelions too. As a kid we used to play the game where, if you saw the yellow from the dandelion when you hovered one under your chin, it meant you liked butter
Weed-wise, they’re even more tenacious than crabgrass. Our lawn guy* explained to me once that a dandelion’s taproot can be very long. Chances are that if you’re lucky to yank leaves and all, you’ve probably only broken it.
In that light, I can understand why manicured lawn lovers hate them.
- [sub] He just mows the lawn. We’ve got a nice crop of yellow in the backyard. Maybe I’ll do something with them…[/sub]
If you care how your lawn looks—or even if you don’t care, but you don’t want the neighbors to be pissed off that your yard is a jungle—dandelions make things harder. You can mow the lawn and, before the grass itself gets tall enough to need mowing again, there are dandelion stems sticking up above the grass all over.
I thought that was buttercups. Oh well, I guess it would work with dandelions as well…
Anyway, while I do think they’re kind of nice looking, I was raised to detest them on the front lawn. If the rest of your lawn is perfect, they can make it look kind of cluttered. And they’re hell to get out once they’re settled.
They’re extremely invasive (I don’t see tea roses, for example, invading lawns), highly noticable once established, and a bitch to eradicate.
Other than that, nothing.
The juice from dandelion stems tastes horrible when you get some on your fingers and forget about it and put your fingers in your mouth.
Other than that, I got nothin’.