Dandelion is by far the most famous weed flower in our temperate climates.
It can be appreciated all season long from March to November, but, it must be said, April is when dandelion is most beautiful.
Discover:
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Who hasn’t yet seen the fairy-like show of pastures or gardens sprinkled with thousands of blooming dandelions?
Who, as a mom or dad, hasn’t yet received as a gift from a child a bouquet of lovingly picked dandelions on mother’s day or father’s day?
Let us contemplate these bright yellow flowers for a second, like our little friends the bees do when they leave their hive after many long winter months.
Dandelion is sown naturally by the wind. Sometimes this renders perfectionist gardeners quite desperate, but let us give these marvelous fragrant bouquets a week or two to bloom!
When the April blooming is over, it will be easy to cut them back with a run of the hoe along the surface of the soil, and it won’t endanger the following spring’s blooming.
Dandelion are among the first spring flowers that help bees get off to a good start.
The dandelion year runs from March to November, and each moment of it offers something different. Here is what the plant gives at each stage, and what you can do with it.
| Stage or use | Best moment | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Leaves for salad | Early March | Cut them off where they connect to the root, then rinse thoroughly in tap water |
| Flowering display | April | Simply contemplate the bright yellow flowers, at their most beautiful |
| Flowers for bees | First weeks of spring | Leave the blooms in place for a week or two so bees can forage |
| Tidying up | Once the April blooming is over | Run the hoe along the surface of the soil to cut them back |
| Dandelion jelly | After blooming, for the store cupboard | Turn the harvest into a jelly to spread on breakfast toast |
Followed in this order, the same patch of lawn feeds you, feeds the bees, and is still tidy by the end of spring.
Dandelion can bring joy to your table as well
Early in the season, local markets offer dandelion leaves for sale, to spice up our mixed salads.
Collect dandelion leaves in the lawn of gardens early March. After this date they grow too bitter to have any further appeal.
Sometimes you’ll need to take time roaming around to find the freshest ones. Indeed, they must be picked on the day they unfurled or the next.
Dandelion “jelly” will even endear the taste buds of children on breakfast toast.
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A far cry from yet becoming fast friends, at least you’ll feel that the dandelions are paying their fair share of rent for the land they occupy!
Credits for images shared to Nature & Garden (all edits by Gaspard Lorthiois):
Hazy dandelions by Rosalyn & Gaspard Lorthiois, own work
