In praise of dandelions

Glorious dandelions in the sun

I’m very fond of dandelions. They are a real sign of spring, and seeing as those signs are very few and far between this year, they are all the more welcome for that. Normally bursting out in April, we’ve had to wait until mid-May to witness the glorious display of bright yellow dandelions along our roadsides, motorways and dare I say it, gardens (well, mine anyway).

As wildlife plants, dandelions are hugely important, as many newly-emerging insects feed voraciously on their abundant nectar when there’s not much else about to feed on. I don’t know what happens when everything is so late as it is this spring, but I assume most things are equally delayed and will catch up.

Dandelions are great plants for the forager as well – fresh young leaves for a tangy bite in a mixed salad, before they get bitter and tough – a bagful of flowers to turn into dandelion wine (I made some last year and it was a great success) – and big tap roots that can be dried and ground up as a coffee substitute, although I tried this once and wasn’t too impressed! However, think of all that iron and essential minerals that you’ll be putting into your system.

Don’t forget about telling the time – when I was a child, I always found dandelion clocks to be incredibly accurate.