TheMondayGarden.com

HISTORY AND MEDICAL USE: Dandelions, members of the vast aster-sunflower family, originated in the temperate parts of Europe and/or Asia Minor, where the plants were used as food and medicine, probably since pre-historical times.

Today, dandelions belong to that international band of naturalized "weeds" found through out the globe's temperate zones. Whether you are walking along a New York roadside, tending a Toronto lawn, weeding in Leningrad or Baghdad, crossing the Argentine Pampas, or growing grapes in New Zealand, you'll find dandelions mixed with the Queen Anne's Lace, plantain, curly dock, chicory, yarrow, smartweed, mustards, butter-and-eggs, and many more familiar faces.

PICTURE: New dandelion flower on a very short stem, stays close to the ground for warmth, Revonah, Stamford CT March 2006

It is commonly agreed that "dandelion" comes from "dents de lion", French for "lion-teeth". However, no one is quite sure why. Suggestions include: the leaf is shaped like a lion's jaw, and the plant's medicinal properties are as strong as lions' teeth. It is true that, for centuries, humans have used dandelion products to treat a host of medical conditions. Indeed, the Latin name, Taraxacum officinale, reportedly comes from the Greek "taraxos", meaning "disorder", and "akos", meaning "remedy".

Dandelion is reputed to be a specific for the kidneys and liver but is said to work best mixed with other ingredients. There is written evidence that the Arabs were using dandelions for medical purposes as early as the 10th century. Today, some American scientists say that dandelions have no proven medical properties. However, in India, dandelions are grown for use as a liver purifier; USA health food stores sells it in capsules; the Canadians have registered it as diuretic drug; and the Japanese are testing for anti-cancer properties.

In addition to the medical uses, survivalists use the juice to repel mosquitoes. The Russians are said to be using the milky sap of a dandelion hybrid to make rubber. Crafters use the flowers to make a lovely yellow dye; the roots are used for reds, purples, and magenta dyes, and the leaves, brown dyes. Dandelions even qualify as a Passover bitter herb. .

PICTURE: If you inspect this dandelion flower closely, you'll see 3 tiny pollinators going for the nectar. To the left is a spent seed head. Scalzi Park, Stamford CT, Memorial Day 2005.

FOOD: Sources agree that dandelions are high in calcium, iron, potassium, and phosphorus, as well as vitamins A, B, C, and D. It has even been said that dandelion leaves are a better source of vitamin A than carrots, and have more iron than spinach. Dandelion root is also said to be 40% inulin, a healthful plant fiber.

Young dandelion leaves are delicious in salad with a hard boiled egg or in a bread and butter sandwich, perhaps sprinkled with a little salt, pepper and lemon (or nutmeg or garlic) (or substitute a misting of olive oil for the butter). The older greens are a bit bitter but can be sautéed or boiled like spinach, used in soup or made into a tea or even dandelion wine. The dandelion roots, like the roots of its cousin, chicory, are dried and ground into a coffee that gently stimulates.

Further, dandelions are the delight of our non-human neighbors: leaf-munching rabbits and butterfly larva, seed-eating song birds, root-eating gophers, and pollen-collecting honeybees. Should you be hosting a pig or a goat, feel free to offer dandelion greens; however, sheep and cows prefer other fare, and horses, they say, won't touch it. .

Caution: Never eat plants grown in or near:
• roads or driveways where heavy metals and petrochemicals from car exhausts and residues from tires may persist;
• lawns and old orchids, where pesticides and herbicides (collectively " 'cides") of unknown bio-degradability may have been used;
• structures (fences, houses, sheds, decks) which may have been painted with lead paint or pressure-treated with arsenic; and
• industrial and dumping areas where heavy metals and chemicals may be present.

Also, some humans have dandelion allergies. If in doubt, avoid skin contact with the white milky sap.

PICTURE: March 2006. These mouth-watering leaves of an energetic young dandelion would be sooo good in a sandwich. However, look but don’t touch as this dandelion is growing curb-side along Strawberry Hill in Stamford CT and may well be polluted by auto exhausts, street anti-icing agents and the like. Unfortunately, the rabbits and woodchucks can't read this warning.

CULTURE: Dandelions, being very prolific, have multiplied into numerous varieties, sub-species and cousins. The average plant that you see in North America is a long-lived perennial with a tap root at least 6 to 12 inches long. The plant has no leaf stalk to speak of -- instead the leaves and flower stalks sprout directly from the root crown. However, even if you cut off the crown, the dandelion can regenerate. Indeed, if you want to propagate your dandelions, say in the veggie bed, root segments as small as an inch can generate into whole plants.

Dandelions prefer a sunny, moist spot, such as a watered lawn or golf course, but can survive drought once established. The leaves lie low to the ground in a circle around the root crown. This leaf circle ("basel rosette" in botany-speak) acts as green mulch for the tap root, holding in the moisture, and fending off other plants which would compete for water, space and nutrients. The leaves are shiny and hairless with a pronounced center rib and a jagged edge. The edge form varies from a slight ripple to deep double or triple indentations.

The flower stems are shiny, slightly purple, hollow, and filled with white sap. Each stem arises directly from the plant's crown and has only one flower head. The plant may produce several blooming flower stalks at once.

If it's not too cold, the ground-hugging leaves may stay green all winter and the first flowers can appear (close to the ground for warmth) on a sunny day in late February. Around here, dandelion flowers show off best in April or early May, before the yards are mowed. The plant will continue flowering intermittently until late fall.

Technically, like all composite flowers each flower "petal" is actually a tiny floret all by itself. The single bright yellow "petal" is blunt-cut across the end with 5 tiny teeth. If you follow the "petal" down to its root, you'll find the bees' secret: a tiny sack of nectar.

As a very early and late season bloomer, dandelions are particularly valuable food to sustain pollinators, such as bees, during the off-seasons. Many insects attracted to the sunny yellow flowerheads are beneficial omnivores whose diet includes other insects as well as pollen and nectar. Encouraging such insects is the best (cheapest, safest and easiest) way to keep your insect population in balance so all pesticides are unnecessary.

Dandelion flowers are light sensitive, opening and closing with the sun. The flowers, wisely, refuse to open at all on dark, rainy days.

Each floret turns into a graceful, tuffed seed that can be carried for miles in the wind and live for years in the ground until the right conditions, including even a slight exposure to light, wake it up. The seeds are particular favorites of our small, thistle-eating birds such as goldfinches.

PICTURE: Dandelion seed head, Mill River walk at Scalzi Park Stamford CT, May 2005.

CONTROLLING DANDELION (OR NOT): Much lawn care advice, unfortunately, starts with the premise that the home owner must want to get rid of the "weeds" and must want to have a beautiful uniform sweep of velvet like Louis XIV. This is unfortunate because it misdirects the uninformed but well-meaning into thinking that getting rid of "weeds" like dandelion and clover is what they are "supposed" to do. Wrong. Killing off the natural bio-diversity in the lawn is a good thing for companies (organic or otherwise) that make their money from the sale of pesticides, weed killers and fertilizers. It's bad for your lawn, you, your children, the wild critters, and the planet.

A lawn of nicely mixed plants is much healthier and tends to be free of chemical dependencies. A mixed lawn also need less supplement water. The deep roots of broad-leaf plants like dandelions and plantain are very beneficial to protect the sod from grub and drought damage, to aerate the soil, and to increase the soil's organic matter, directly via decaying roots, and indirectly through fostering good soil critters (microbes, worms, etc.). The clover, of course, also adds nitrogen.

A mixed-plant lawn also keeps the rabbits and woodchucks out of the garden because they'd rather eat the succulent young clover and dandelions greens; it also discourages Canada geese, who prefer grass.

Aesthetically, a plain, all-same green lawn is boring, boring, boring. On the other hand, a carpet of mixed plants surprises and delights with a tapestry of tiny flowers -- pink and white clovers, sunny dandelions, lilac-faced Johnny-jump-ups, violets, and tiny wild strawberries.

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING: The best garden is a balanced garden. Too much of anything, even smiling dandelions, is not optimum. You can keep your lawn dandelions in balance by regularly mowing (at the 2-3" level) so that most of the seed heads don't ripen. Excess dandelions and unwanted plants such as crab grass that doesn't "play nicely with others" are best controlled by repeated hand pulling. Use a garden knife to get the tap root.

Backyard farmers should note that weeds are not necessarily bad in the veggie patch, once the seedlings are tall enough to fend for themselves. Weed removal opens the seed bank and can have the net result of a weed increase. Mulch is a better option to hold the weeds down and a few flowering dandelions, Queens Anne's Lace and the like attract the good insects. I recently heard about clover sown between the rows as "green mulch" to shade out weeds while adding nitrogen and organic matter.

LEGAL STATUS: In the USA, dandelions are not generally considered "invasive plants". Dandelions are "naturalized" in that they didn't originate here but have formed an independent population here outside of cultivation. The term "invasive" is reserved for aggressive alien plants which can out-compete our native plants in the wild. Dandelions don't out-compete out native plants in the wild; they are generally only capable of out-competing your wimpy lawn grass. However, dandelions might be classified in some states as "noxious weeds" which means plants, regardless of origin, which adversely impact commercial farmers. Honey farmers, however, welcome dandelions as do many organic farmers striving to encourage a balanced insect population.

PICTURE: New dandelion flower on a very short stem, stays close to the ground for warmth, Revonah, Stamford CT March 2006

PS: Speaking of lawns, don't forget to leave the clipping on the lawn, spread them in a thin layer in the garden or mix them in the compost -- whatever, don't throw out this wealth of nitrogen!