A Dandy Storm

[ThomWV]

Yesterday was amazing; I saw something I've never run across before. After about 3 days of more or less constant rain the sun popped out yesterday afternoon for a few hours as a small high pressure area passed over. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze was blowing. It was absolutely beautiful. Then, in the middle of clear blue sky's without a cloud in sight, the storm started.

It was like a blizzard, it was like a white-out, it was eskimo time on a 70 degree day. There was white in the air everywhere, what looked like snowflakes were blowing horizontally, the ground was quickly being covered, the pond's top was pure white.

Dandy lions!

I have never seen anything like it. For about a half hour the sky was white with dandy lion seeds, those little white heads had exploded in the sun and tossed their hairy white fluffy seeds into the air everywhere all at once. Even now there are still a lot of them blowing around, there are white patches on the ground where they lay thick.

And now the devastating part. The clouds have returned and its going to rain on these newly deposited dandy lion seeds for the next 3 or 4 days. This place is going to be completely covered by dandy lions as soon as they sprout, which will be soon.

Two weeks ago I was out riding my bike about 50 miles from here and I passed by a farmer's field that was almost completely yellow with newly sprouted dandy lions. It was by far the thickest concentration of them I had ever seen and I wondered how on earth the field got in that condition; they were so thick it appeared they had been planted on purpose. Now I know. I'm afraid this is going to be horrible.

[crispini]

1. Dandelions are SUCH a useful plant!

The blossoms go into dandelion wine. The greens can be eaten, and the root can be used to make an infused oil or tonic. I was at the school the other day and picked myself a few seed pods to bring back to my lawn!

TONS of ideas for things to do with your future dandelion crop are here:

http://www.susunweed.com/weedforum/viewtopic.php?t=431

And, actually, your farmer may very well have planted them for a crop! Why not? :D Enjoy your bounty! It sounds like the storm was lovely. :)

[ThomWV]

3. Hard to immagine when the garden beds are 1/4 inch deep in weed seeds

I couldn't care less about the yard, its the gardens that I'm concerned about. When you have weed seeds - and that is what a dandilion is - so thick on the garden beds that you can not see the dirt then there is probably a problem comming.

I think its wonderful that someone has found more uses for the Dandilion than George Washington Carver did for peanuts but they have no use at all clogging up my broccoli or anything else I plan to plant. They are a useless and destructive weed for my purposes and I really don't care that they are savory in a soup or make a dam good glue for homemade kites; its a weed to me.

I wonder what eats the damned things? Probably moles with my luck.

[MuseRider]

2. Learn to love the Lion!

They are useful although I never have used them. They are kind of pretty when all yellow, shoot I look all over my pastures for wildflowers and save their seed and that is all they are really. I think it is grand when you see that, it might just mean that fewer people are poisoning the land with herbicides for a green, flawless lawn.

[bhikkhu]

4. I've got plenty of them myself

and there are a few acres of city park nearby full of dandelions every spring in case I run out of seed-stock...

I just weed them out, and have grown to enjoy the job. If I am outside and there are no immediate things to usefully do in the garden, there are always dandelions to spend my time on. I have an old military surplus bayonet knife that I notched the tip on, so I can spear it into the ground and sever the root a few inches below ground. I throw the weeds in the compost pile - the heat will kill any seeds - and they go back to the earth later in the year.

Good luck - it sounds like you will be busy!

[Quantess]

5. I enjoy yellow dandelions in other peoples' yards. Kinda cute from a distance.

I get annoyed when they're in my yard, though. But, you say you were 50 miles away from home?

My chickens eat dandelion flowers. It would be better if they devoured the whole flower heads, consistently, but no, they just pick at them.

Looks like you've got some weeding to look forward to... hopefully minimal.

[wildeyed]

6. Oh dear.....

I hope you had mulch on the beds. Just try to weed them out immediately as they germinate. One a dandelion gets a good hold, it is difficult to get the root out in one piece.

The 'storm' sounds like it was interesting. I wonder what all those dandelions were doing in the farmer's field. Don't most conventional farmers just spray poison for something like that?