How to Grow Dandelions for Greens, Roots, and Flowers

Taraxacum officinale

I refuse to tug dandelions from my yard through the first bloom. I don’t even let my husband mow.

These cheerful drops of sunshine should not solely fairly, however as a beekeeper, I do know they’re meals supply for pollinators through the gaps between blooms of different important spring vegetation.

And when the white fluff emerges, my yard fills with ecstatic little birds gobbling up the seeds.

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Not solely are dandelions good sources of meals for birds and bees, however a lot of the plant is edible for people too.

Sure, you would simply go forage wild dandelions out of your yard as a substitute of rising them deliberately, however you shouldn’t forage from different individuals’s yards or roadsides.

Many gardeners hate dandelions, so that you don’t know what they’ve been sprayed with (or whose canine peed on them).

Plus, regularly mowed dandelion greens might be too bitter to make a yummy addition to your salad.

So why not develop them? They’re wholesome, straightforward, and as you’ll discover out under, you don’t even want a yard or backyard to have contemporary dandelion greens useful.

Preserve studying to seek out out every little thing it’s worthwhile to learn about rising my favourite weed, the cheery dandelion!

It’s a loathed weed now, however this central Asia native was initially imported to America as a meals crop.

And, clearly, it did very properly.

You’ll find T. officinale, a member of the aster or Asteraceae household, in Europe, North America, southern Africa, South America, New Zealand, Australia, India…

Its success is not any marvel.

Not solely does every plant produce a mean of 5,000 wind-borne seeds, these perennials are hardy in Zones 3 to 10, they survive from the lowlands to over 8,000 ft in elevation, tolerate moist and compact soils, poor and dry soil, and are typically pest and illness free.

Their largest enemies are bunnies and people.

The sight of a dandelion carpet would possibly trigger a spike within the blood stress of some garden house owners, however they’re a wholesome meals.

The greens are excessive in calcium, iron, vitamin C, and potassium, and low in energy. Excluding the flower stems, the remainder of the plant is completely edible.

Dandelions might be useful to develop alongside your different vegetation, too.

Their vivid, pollen laden flowers entice a wide range of useful bugs similar to lacewings, ladybugs, bumblebees and different pollinators.