Dandelion. As common, almost, as the grass in our yard…and sometimes, more common! Every child instantly loves their sunburst blooms at first sight. Show a toddler a dandelion and they'll pluck it and smile. Dandelions delight!
And they keep right on delighting some of us throughout all the days and years and decades of our life. At least they keep delighting me. A bright yellow flower that looks for all the world like a little ball of sunshine.
I don't care if the dandelion's jaunty blooms spatter my lawn. Grass doesn't make me grin; yellow-orange dandelions do! I see one at my feet, lift is from it's hollow stem, give the flower head of soft, "furry" florets a quick sniff and maybe a rub under the nose for old time's sake. And for a moment anyway, the world seems a sweeter, more innocent place where joy and wonder abound…and hatred's bombs and blood and torn lives cannot ever exist.
16 comments:
I love dandelions - they always look so bright and cheerful and they are pretty when they become dandelion clocks as well. Not to mention that they are a very useful herb too.
I never took the time to look closely at a dandelion. Thanks to your image, I can see (and appreciate) the curly ends of (what I assume are) the pistils.
I love dandelions too. It always makes me happy to see them scattered across lawns.
Rowan…
The only thing "wrong" with dandelions—not counting the monoculture bigotry of the "pure lawn" set—is that's it too common, and like most ubiquitous things, thus generally overlooked and underappreciated. Cheery as a sunny day, their leaves are hands down my very favorite cooked green—wild or garden grown. And how can anyone grow too old to enjoy blowing on a dandelion head gone to seed and watching the sliver "clocks" go sailing off…hopefully to land in astonishing multitudes on lawns of those nefarious name-callers who fail to recognize beauty when springs golden at the feet!
Scott…
Dandelions are, of course, composites—not one flower, but many florets on a single stem. And those curly parts you can just barely see in my photo are, indeed, the pollen-carrying stigma portion of the pistil. The "honey well" which draws so many insects their way, is the tube (anthers) from which the pistil extends. Later, the yellow bits of the florets wither and dry, get blown away, and the ripened seeds, at the base, connected by a stalk, with a tuft of down on the end—, which in time open becoming the gossamer ball— "clocks" or "blow-balls" as I've also heard them called—which are carried away on the wind.
Marvelous things, these common yellow dandelions!
Kelly…
Yup. I think dandelions are dandy! And a good thing, too, seeing as how my lawn is a dandelion refuge…well, not exactly refuge, since I gather and eat them…maybe more like a dandelion plantation.
The only thing I’ll tell you about dandelion is that they taste good. When I was a very small child I would go to the fields with my cousin’s great grandmother (about 1 ½ hour outside of Paris.) She was then already an old woman, with a long black dress – her son had died in the First World War and she was still in mourning, she lived in a wee house with no electric light and no running water. So, I’d love to go to the fields with her when we visited my cousin sometimes, and pick-up the dandelion greens. She showed me how to make the salad – 1 Tbs of wine vinegar, 2 Tbs of oil, salt and pepper, a bit of mustard, and 2 hard boiled eggs broken into small pieces. Then you add the fresh tender dandelion green and mix everything well. You then cut the salad in small pieces – eat with crusty French bread. I still make it when I can find dandelion greens at Whole Food (as in gardens they may have chemicals on them.) Memories…
HI GRIZZ - beautiful picture - the bright yellow is spirited and joyous - a gift of nature. I have wonderful memories of dandelions - my Gramma sauteed the greens in olive oil and garlic and other magic spices and the flowers? She plucked them and gently rinsed them and dried them on cheese cloth on a window sill - (no paper towel in her house, ever!!)...thern she dded them to salads or other vegetable dishes and one could even find a flower or two on the side of their bowl of hand made pasta on those wonderful Sunday visits - so ya, dandelions are beautiful, delicious,
and memorable, and still are.....
thanks for the memories
Love Gail
peace......
Vagabonde…
Thank you so much for sharing such a lovely memory. I really enjoyed your comment.
I never ate dandelions raw in a salad until I was at least in my twenties. But once I did—in a salad much as you also were taught to make it—I really loved dandelions fixed that way.
When I was growing up, however, cooked dandelion greens were a nearly year around staple on our table—and once we acquired our first deep freezer, when I was maybe ten years old, they DID become a year-around item. I love cooked dandelions. I like practically all greens—from turnip to poke to mustard, kale, collards, spinach and chard…you name 'em, I love 'em—but I love dandelions the most.
We gathered them by the 5-gallon bucket from wild fields and back yards.
Mom would often take a big dishpan (or a paper shopping bag) out back in the morning, pick it full of dandelions, and cook them down to go with the fried chicken, gravy, and hot biscuits, cornbread, or hoecakes she made for dinner (lunch). From early spring on until mid-summer, there was usually a bowl of dandelion greens on the dinner and supper table.
We also picked, blanched, and froze packets of the wilted greens in the freezer to finish fixing during the winter. They were like green gold—very precious.
Preparation was simple…boil (blanch) the cleaned and washed green leaves in a "first" water for a couple of minutes; discard that water, then add "seasoning" of bacon fat, and just enough water to keep them from burning, and cook until done—maybe 20 more minutes, much as you would spinach. Sprinkle on salt, maybe a bit of vinegar. Eat.
I also sometimes sautée them (after a quick blanch or not) in olive oil, with a bit of chopped garlic, and maybe bacon…a livelier version, with a bit of bitterness if you don't do the blanch—but a taste I've come to really enjoy. The perfect spring tonic.
BTW, I'm talking mostly wild dandelions; commercial garden dandelions are milder. You seldom need to blanch. I prefer wild, but hey, they're both grens and I love greens!
Gail…
Loved your dandelion memories, too. Food is really where families come together, the place where memories are made which endure for a lifetime.
I've never eaten dandelion flowers in the way your Gramma served them. But I have fried them in a light batter; the early blooms of spring are delicious done this way. And a friend of mine makes dandelion wine from the blossoms. Picks them by the bucket full! And does a big batch in his basement. He does several dozen bottles each year. The young versions are much, but the stuff that's been aged 4-5 years, or longer, is really excellent.
Hi Again - now that is a first for me, 'dandelion wine'. I net it is hearty!!
Also, when my Gram served the dandelion flowers, as is, once we dipped them in her amazing spaghetti sauce made fresh every Sunday - they were a 'flower-meat ball' of sorts :-) and the sauteed greens? We spread on fresh Italian bread and savored every bite. And/Or mixed it in with our macaroni. As kids we popped the flowers in our mouths like candy! Delish!!
I have had battered and fried zucchini flowers which are so good, very similar I imagine to the dandelion flower in texture. Nature gives us the best of the best!
Love to you
Gail
peace.....
Gail…
I've eaten fried zucchini flowers, too—and they are delicious, as are dandelion blossoms. I've also sliced and toasted thick slices of various hearty breads, drizzled with olive oil, maybe sprinkled a bit salt and pepper, then topped with sautéed dandelion greens—making as sort of bruschetta. Wonderful! Of course good stuff of good toast is generally wonderful.
Dandelion wine, when given a few years of aging time, is really quite good…surprisingly so, in fact. If you have any wine-making friends, check to see if they'll give you a bottle with some age on it to sample. Barter if needed, whine when necessary.
I will begin my quest for some home made and aged dandelion wine.....
Gail…
A most worthy quest, indeed.
Look at those little curli-cues at the end of each petal. So cool.
I agree that dandelions are a delight--from blossom to puffball. And I'd sooner have them in my lawn than pollute the lawn with bird-killing chemicals.
KGMom…
That's one of the things I enjoy about making photos—the chance to really look at things in the resultant image…including what you sometimes discover in the most commonplace subjects.
I'm with you on being against pouring pesticides on a lawn, killing all that life in the food chain, just to avoid a dandelion or two. Dig 'em up if they offend you; cook and eat 'em if you dare!
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