BUSY BEES

My yard is full of dandelions (Taraxacum officinale)...it's a member of the Aster Family (Asteracea). My father had me digging them out of this lawn with a special tool designed to cut the tap root. No matter how I tried to convince him that it was a waste of time unless you got the entire root, he never relented.  I found out later that he knew that perfectly well.....digging dandelions was his way of keeping me out of trouble.

I like dandelions. They bring in the bees and bees are necessary to pollinate my tomatoes. Yeah....you have to put up with foot high white seed heads for a couple of weeks (see Extra) but once those are done spreading the wealth, the main plant stays green all summer no matter how dry it gets....it's the tap root! They are low and don't require much mowing so my "lawn" stays green all summer.

Extra: the blossom and the seed head. Best seen in Large