Do you like dandelions? | The Press

I am 2 years old. I love my mother. Every day, I pick flowers for her, beautiful dandelions. There are plenty of them on neighbors’ land. I enthusiastically hand her my bouquet. She kisses me, thanks me, pours water into a glass and places my flowers in it. The beautiful centerpiece! My mother is happy. Children learn to please by giving dandelions.

Then time and spring pass. I finally understand why there are no dandelions on our land, only among the neighbors. My father tears them off and throws them into a green bag. Dandelions aren’t flowers, they’re weeds. It hurts my heart. The non-existence of Santa Claus shocked me less than that. I have to face reality: only babies like dandelions. Than those who piss in bed who appreciate dandelions.

Getting older means no longer liking dandelions.

You really don’t have to like them to call them that. However, they have another name, a very beautiful name: lion’s tooth. Already, it makes you want to respect them.

Have you seen my bed of lion’s teeth? There would be something to show off about. Well no, no one calls them lion’s teeth, they are reduced to being cursed dandelions.

For the longest part of my existence, it was settled, the world was more beautiful without dandelions. A lawn, a park, a field looked more beautiful without the presence of these anemochorous dicotyledonous plants. As soon as we saw them on a plot of land, it was a sign of poor maintenance, of carelessness, of the owner’s non-contribution to the surrounding beauty. In short, we judged. And we condemned. Dandelion equals not clean.

Then the world changed.

Yesterday’s certainties become tomorrow’s doubts.

To the question “should dandelions be removed?” », the Montreal Science Center responds that experts in biology and beekeeping advise letting them grow freely to allow pollinators to feed after the harsh Quebec winter. By saving the dandelions, we save the bees, by saving the bees, we save the planet.

The cause is so essential that we are asked to take up the Dandelion Challenge, which consists of installing a sign on our lawn, to tell our neighbors that we offer the nectar and pollen of dandelions to bees, and to share photos that highlight our dandelions, on Instagram and Facebook, with the hashtag #pisdelschallenges. Not only are we no longer ashamed of our dandelions, but we are proud of them. I am Dandelion!

My father, who today eats dandelions by the root, must turn around in his urn.

The poster on the lawn is to publicize the challenge and above all to avoid being perceived as lazy by the neighborhood.

Photos on social networks are to encourage people to grow their dandelions. Dandelion influencers, the world has truly changed.

Dandelion went from zero to hero. The baby I was is happy for him.

Everything being relative, an article published in The Press early May said that once the dandelions went to seed, they could be cut. It was added that their role in pollination was perhaps not as essential as some claim.¹.

Science is never simple. If it was, it would be known.

The dandelion not only pollinates, it also polarizes.

There are pro-dandelions and anti-dandelions. Choose your side.

One thing is certain, we have never seen so many dandelions as at the moment.

In courtyards, in gardens, even in parks in upscale neighborhoods, dandelion grows as it pleases. At first glance, we are surprised. Our old reflexes take over. We think it looks dilapidated. Then our environmental awareness speaks to us. Dandelion is the herb of our survival. In an inclusive lawn, it has the right to exist. So we try to look at it differently. We try to look at it with our childish eyes. To rediscover the beauty that we found in him when he was young.

There are years of indifference to deprogram.

When we were little, we could see him from our height. Tall, we see him short on legs. It’s more of a long hair than a little flower, but at least it’s yellow. Like the sun. Basically, a dandelion is the bonsai version of a sunflower.

It sure doesn’t have the presence of a tulip or the seduction of a rose, but it adds a rebellious side, a wild side, to the landscape.

It punctuates the path. The dandelion is nature’s orange cone. It demarcates the places where the land is under construction. Where the road is out of bounds. It’s still more poetic than the plastic case.

The great thing about getting back to loving dandelions is that there are a lot of them, and they’ve been around for a long time. From May to October. Imagine if that was the case for lilacs.

As a teenager, I gave bouquets of lilacs to my mother. She kissed me, thanked me, poured water into a glass and placed my flowers in it. The beautiful centerpiece! My mother was happy. And the centerpiece stayed there longer than the one with the dandelions. Guess my mother had preferences.

But that is not the question, since we must leave the dandelions where they are.

Do you like dandelions?

1. Read “Are Dandelions So Important to Bees?” »