The Dandelion is the most under-appreciated wild plants and flowers.
My grandfather used to battle with these in the garden every year and I remember being afraid to touch one in case I would wet the bed!
We have always had a negative perception of these flowers as they are seen as an invasive weed that creates a lot of problems for us; that’s what I learned as a child but with time, I’ve come to greatly appreciate and admire this plant.
The taraxacum officinale (dandelion) belongs to the Asteraceae family which is the same family of daisies and sunflowers.
They are very nutritious plants with edible leaves, roots and flowers. The leaves are rich in vitamin A, C and K and the flowers create the most delicious syrup and marmalade!
More importantly, they are a particularly good source of nectar for bees early in the season when the availability of nectar is scarce and are also great at attracting pollinators to the garden for crop pollination.
So please keep them in your gardens, especially up until June as they are a loyal old friend of the gardener and bees and we should all appreciate and respect them.
