Do you remember your first plant love?
Your first plant love is a question gardeners get frequently asked. What about you? Do you remember your first plant love? I certainly do.
I loved running through fields of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Yes, the common dandelion. To get from my grandfather’s villa to school or to my father’s work place, on foot, I had to walk through these grassy fields. I’m not even sure if anybody maintained them. They were clearly city property and early in the season the fields would be all yellow. And I loved it!
The plants were soft enough to break when I kicked them; and blowing on the seed heads was mandatory. I even liked the stickiness inside the stems. But the best part was the happy yellow color and the mass planting. I loved the idea of one plant dominating the whole field.
Other uses
Girls were really good at making wreaths out of dandelions and then wearing them on their heads. That was way before the internet, iPhones and tablets. And playing in a dandelion field was a blast. I can picture it to this day, but I have no idea if it’s still there. This was in Prague 9, Czechia, many years ago.
I had no idea back then that I would become a landscape professional in Canada, and people would ask me to help them eradicate dandelions from their lawns. Since I hate chemicals, I would use hand tools to remove the stubborn plants.
Dandelions are amazing plants, so it makes me angry when I see how the chemical industry has hijacked it for its own evil use. Dandelion images shouldn’t appear on chemical labels.
Dandelions are one hundred percent edible. In my kitchen, I have tea made from roasted dandelion roots. It’s USDA approved organic and I buy it to enjoy it, and to create more demand.
Amazingly, dandelions don’t need sexual reproduction to spread, which is why we see them everywhere. I love them to this day.
What’s your first plant love?
