The golden dandelion, lighting up lawns, verges, pavements... any where it can lay its roots. Time and time again, we are told how pollinators use these much maligned wild flowers as an essential source of nectar and pollen, and yet time and time again, gardeners and councils try to obliterate them where they dare to shine. John Clare described them as "fallen stars in a green sea of grass" in his poem A Rhapsody, so why can't more of us see the dandelion in this light? Those awful adverts still appear on TV where they depict 'evil' cartoon dandelions being heroically removed by a gardener with weedkiller, but surely it is time we stopped showing these misleading roles. What is the worst thing a dandelion is going to do if growing in a lawn, park or playground?
Worryingly, in trying to search for a paper I read some time ago that suggests dandelion pollen lacks certain nutrients and may be poor quality if fed to bee larvae alone, I came across a slogan that stated 'Save the Bees, Remove Dandelions'. Whilst it may be true that dandelions alone won't save our dwindling insect population, we do need to include them in a more diverse ecosystem that we can encourage in our gardens and parks. Using pesticides of any sort is certainly not going to help, due to the many, now well documented effects many have on the nervous system of pollinators. Caterpillars of some butterfly and moth species will use dandelions as a food plant, so we must also consider insects other than pollinators (or at least different stages of their life cycle).
Perhaps if we shifted views to seeing dandelions as a wild flower, rather than a weed? Or perhaps if we shifted the obsession so many of us still seem to have with keeping a perfect lawn? Or at least try to become more tolerant of allowing the boundaries to blur between a 'perfect garden' and 'nature'. Indeed, my perfect garden would encourage as much wildlife in as possible, and I try to.
References:
https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/dandelion (accessed 02/05/2020)
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/07/what-do-caterpillars-eat/ (accessed 02/05/2020)
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