Dandelion: A Love Story

It was a morning after storms, and sunlight was just breaking in the yard when I went out with my camera. With the recent rains, everything is greening up, and the yard is alive with flowers of every kind and color, not the least of which are the dandelions. They are springing up all over the place.

And of course I, as a photographer, feel duty-bound to participate in the annual spring ritual of the dandelion macro. It's fun, it's easy, and they're right there waiting. What isn't to like? It's like art on a stick, sitting waiting in the yard! Got raindrops? Even better!

But that's not what my husband said. As I was taking this picture of a dandelion after rain, he was strolling through the yard, ripping dandelions up by the handful, growling, tossing them into the weeds. So many dandelions, so little time . . .

"Please don't," I wanted to say. Because they are so fun to photograph and they're not really hurting anything. And besides, dandelions are important in our ecosystems; they provide some of the first food for the hungry spring bees.

And so I cooed over the blooms and took my pictures, as my husband ripped up dandelions: two processes, diametrically opposed. Yin and yang at work, right there in our very own yard. Shiva dances the dance of destruction, while Brahma creates.

Much later in the day, I saw my husband inside, standing by the front windows with his binoculars trained on the yard. "She's eating dandelions," he said, almost breathlessly. "It's so cute!" And he handed the binos to me.

And when I looked through them, what did I see? Mini Bunzini, the small rabbit in our yard, happily sitting surrounded by the white, round heads of dandelions gone to seed. She nipped each flower off at the bottom, then systematically ate it, inch by inch, until she swallowed the bloom.

It may have been about a half-hour later, and he was watching again. "She must have eaten 50 to 100 dandelions already," he said in amazement. "Soon she'll probably be off in the weeds with a tummy-ache from eating too many! Should we try to stop her?"

But of course we didn't try to stop her, and she kept on munching. Down goes another dandelion. And another. And then eventually, she disappeared back under the forsythia hedge where she came from.

When we walked outside to check on the plants before darkness fell, we surveyed the yard, and the entire area where Mini Bunzini had been sitting was totally clear of dandelions. My husband was jubilant: "If we could have a BUNCH of bunnies, maybe we won't even have to mow!" he said. I could practically hear his brain plotting and scheming.

And so that, dear reader, is the story of how the lowly dandelion came to enjoy protected status on our land. You may think it is a weed. And maybe it is. Or you may think it is a beautiful work of art. I do. And the flowers provide sustenance to the early bees.

Most importantly, though, they are adored by Mini Bunzini, our favorite rabbit of all. (And it's awfully cute to watch her eat them - one day I will try to show you that.) And so it is that the dandelions get to stay.

The song to accompany this photo is the Rolling Stones, with Dandelion.

Bonus link: Bees and bunnies aren't the only creatures who enjoy dandelions. Spiders like them too. Here's a link to a prior blip that features both spider and dandelion, in which a spider dreams of flying.