Dynamic Dandies

I like dandelions.  The greens are good for you and super full of nutrients.  Bees love them, and they bloom all summer long from early spring into late fall – when food is more sparse for them.  AND dandelions are dynamic accumulators… that’s code word for plants whose roots reach deep into the ground and pull minerals and nutrients up to the topsoil.  Then in the fall when they die they help to re-mineralize and build the soil.

I’m not willing to risk adding another carcinogen into my environment in an attempt to destroy them (although I hear you can use corn starch).  So I have them growing everywhere.

I saw this lovely dandelion growing on a walk with my dad in Golden.  I would love to paint it, and I probably will, despite the feedback I’ve received so far from friends… “people work hard to kill those things, I doubt anyone would want a painting of one hanging on their wall”.

But hey, maybe there is someone out there like me, who loves them for all the good they do in the world, and would love seeing them on the wall.