With the sun shining continuously, dandelions are now studding grass verges and probably your lawns. Once seen as weeds, these gorgeous flowers are now recognised as the mini powerhouses of early nectar which they are.
Bees and hoverflies LOVE them and they provide that crucial bit of nectar just before the other flowers get going. So, it is EASY to help your dandelions in your garden – do nothing.
Let them bloom. And when they go to seed, let them too. It helps them to reseed for all spring/summer flower. Birds also love eating their seeds. I have seen redpolls sit on a dandelion seedhead and happily gobble the silvery tufts.
There are other things you can do with dandelions too.
Eat Me. Drink Me.
Dandelions are edible and nutritious. You can brew them into a tea, use their leaves in a salad and eat the flowers as well.
Their roots can be roasted to make a ‘coffee’.
Dandelions have a diuretic effect, which is why they are so effective in detoxing the liver.
Barometer
“The dandelion is an excellent barometer, one of the commonest and most reliable. It is when the blooms have seeded and are in the fluffy, feathery condition that its weather prophet facilities come to the fore. In fine weather the ball extends to the full, but when rain approaches, it shuts like an umbrella. If the weather is inclined to be showery it keeps shut all the time, only opening when the danger from the wet is past.”
Source: “Camping For Boys,” by H.W. Gibson