By Tim King
Special to the Leader
    There’s gold in them there lawns! So why are we so bent on getting rid of it?
    This is the time for dandelions to burst onto the scene. It seems that you can’t walk past any stretch of land without seeing at least one of these bright beauties, with their golden yellow flowers drinking in the spring sunshine.
    I wonder when these vibrant signs of spring became Public Enemy No. 1?
    What did they do wrong to deserve having an entire litany of products designed to eradicate them from the landscape? Visit any garden center and you’ll find seemingly endless powders and spray liquids, foot-powered poppers and hand diggers all created to stop or at least slow down the proliferation of dandelion – but why pick on them? Who decided exactly what is a “good” flower and what is a weed?
    After all, dandelions are early blooming, hardy, bright yellow and tend to spread well on their own. What’s not to like? Yet we spend our hard-earned time and money trying to kill them, while yellow tulips are tenderly cultivated and yellow daffodils are celebrated with parades and rides atop pretty Easter bonnets.
    You would think a flower that is so revered by young children both in life and in death would maintain some emotional appeal for us adults. Certainly, every one of us at one point has pulled a handful of dandelion flowers from the lawn and proudly presented it to someone as a beautiful bouquet. While many of us also remember tickling the flower under our chins to see if we liked butter or not.
    Yet it seems that as soon as we become grown-ups, we forget about these simple pleasures. Also forgotten is the pure joy of launching their powder puff seeds into the air or watching them explode on their own during a strong wind. No, when we begin to manage our own lawns, we cringe at the thought of all those seeds planting themselves somewhere.
    I did a little research and learned that dandelion leaves are tasty and can be mixed into salads to add a unique flavor. I also found dandelions were actually brought to America by European colonists because of their vigorous early spring growth and the many health benefits derived from them. Turns out their greens are rich in nutrients such as vitamin C, calcium, iron, and fiber – even more than broccoli – now there’s an ugly plant that should be wiped out! But I digress…
    It’s no wonder that the official Latin word for dandelion is taraxacum officinale, which means “official remedy.” It seems that every piece of the plant: root, flower, stems and leaves can be used to treat everything from digestive disorders to warts.
    Maybe we should blame the media – or more specifically, the fine people at Scotts for bombarding us with images of everyday men and women successfully fighting back the evil horde of dandelions attacking our landscape using products such as Roundup and Plus 2 Weed Control. I can still picture an older gentleman standing in front of his lawn tell me how he kills dandelions by getting “right down to the roots” in a thick Midwestern accent. So, if the TV says that it’s bad then it must be bad, right?
    I’ll admit that I’m just as guilty as anyone when it comes to being coerced into this seek and destroy mentality. Although I have not been willing to subject my lawn (and its users) to much of a chemical attack, I have spent the better part of my Saturday morning’s filling 5 gallon buckets with dandelions I’ve pried up using a big screwdriver or narrow spade.
    Call me a conformist, but I really do prefer the look of a uniformly green lawn. The audacity of this bright yellow flower that smugly closes up and retreats back inside itself when the sun goes down is hard for me to come to terms with. The hiding in plain sight strategy apparently does the trick.
    What’s more, trying to completely remove these random beacons on spring vigor is a fools’ game anyway if all of my neighbors aren’t playing along too.
    There’s nothing preventing one of their flowers from infecting my attempt at a pristine landscape anyway. Certainly, I can’t put a bubble around my yard to deflect whatever wants to blow into my little yard the same way I can’t put a bubble around my kids to keep them 100-percent safe all the time.
    Sometimes adding a little diversity and color to your life is as simple as being willing to accept what is already there.
    After returning from a short stay up north this weekend, I found that this year’s battle against dandelions has been lost once again. Hundreds of bare stems now protrude in the same places where bright yellow flowers had been when I left.
    In my absence (or perhaps because of my absence) the lifecycle of these irksome neighbors quickly ran its course as thousands petals dried up and seeds flew with the breeze to destinations unknown. Some travel just a few feet while others will end up germinating in my neighbors’ lawn – just as seeds from their plants will find a new home in mine.
    Eventually, I’ll make my first cut with the lawnmower and bring back some uniformity to my lawn.
    Later, as the neighborhood kids run, jump and play in my yard this summer they will be totally oblivious to whether or not they are stepping on Kentucky bluegrass, rye, fescue, crabgrass or dandelion leaves. As long as it’s mostly green and doesn’t hurt their bare feet it’s fine with the – and it should be fine with me too.
    In the meantime, would anyone care to join me in a dandelion salad? I’ve got plenty to go around. — Tim King is a freelance writer who sees the forest and the trees from his home in Scarborough. He can be reached at - sylvan.sauntering@gmail.com.