Learning to Love Dandelions (2021)

There’s a lot to appreciate about the common dandelion, and one of the best things about it is that a lot of people hate them. The primary reason people hate them is that they’re so insistent. They’re survivors of chemical attacks and attempts to uproot, hanging on tight with their thick roots and just breaking off at the top. They’re quick to reproduce, too, spreading seed effortlessly on the breeze. Gardening writer Anna Pavord calls dandelions “bullies. They simply had to go.” If you have a garden or lawn almost anywhere on the planet where humans are common, you could be one gust of wind from an invasion in your otherwise green lawn or cultivated flower bed. I can imagine it must be frustrating for someone who wants to keep a neat, green garden free of weeds, and I’m inclined to argue that dandelions are evil because that attitude benefits us who like picking them. Normally I worry about collecting flowers because they are loved as they are. If a plant is on public land, I ha ... Read full article.