Weed or Not?

Dandelion -- weed or flower? Friend or foe? Pull and mow or not?

If you have a garden, I'm sure you have a dandelion growing it in, especially this time of year. Spring is the most prevalent time for these perennials plants to creep up, and most people are very quick to remove them.

But why?

Did you know dandelion is the first crucial food source for honeybees, butterflies, bumblebees, fireflies and others? The lifespan of a dandelion is only a few weeks, from sprout to seed, and while they do seed and blow and form new plants, the dreaded dandelions are not ALL that terrible.

In fact, people have been eating dandelion and drinking dandelion tea for many, many years. 

Dandelion has many anti-oxidant and healing properties and was once used for its medicinal properties. I know relatives who would dig up the youngest, freshest dandelion leaves to harvest for salads -- tender bitter leaves that also calm an upset stomach.

And who hasn't made a dandelion bouquet or blown pretty white dandelion seeds? I certainly have.

Plus, the bees and the bugs like them -- and they never lie.

Here's the thing: dandelions are very powerful little plants; once you have one dandelion, you'll have them for life, I've learned. 

Someone once told me: a plant is only a weed if you don't want it there. 

So, flower or weed? Do you continue to pluck and pull and mow? Or leave them for the bees?