Dandelions

During our trip in the US last May, Belle enjoyed the sights of beautiful flowers that came in different sizes, colors and varieties.  I would never forget a particular flower that caught her attention. Scattered along the road are small yellow flowers about 1 to 2 " long. Beside them are white flowers that look like cotton balls.  Our friends from Normal, Illinois said they are called Dandelions. They usually grow during spring time.

The dandelion is a perennial, herbaceous plant with long, lance-shaped leaves. They're so deeply toothed, they gave the plant its name in Old French: Dent-de-lion means lion's tooth in Old French. The leaves are 3 to 12" long, and 1/2 to 2-1/2" wide, always growing in a basal rosette.

Dandelion Leaves 

Dandelions are especially well-adapted to a modern world of "disturbed habitats," such as lawns and sunny, open places. They were even introduced into the Midwest from Europe to provide food for the imported honeybees in early spring. They now grow virtually worldwide. Dandelions spread further, are more difficult to exterminate, and grow under more adverse circumstances than most competitors. Most gardeners detest them, but the more you try to weed them up, the faster they grow. 

The flowers grow individually on hollow flower stalks 2 to 18" tall. Each flower head consists of hundreds of tiny ray flowers.

Dandelion Composite Flower 

 

The flower head can change into the familiar, white, globular seed head overnight. Each seed has a tiny parachute, to spread far and wide in the wind.

Dandelion Seed Head 

* Italicized words and the first 3 pictures were borrowed from www.wildmanstevebrill.com.

 

It's so amazing how God created lovely flowers such as the dandelions.  They grow, they bloom, turn into seed heads, then they die. It's their life cycle.  They're just scattered everywhere for others to step on and ignore. Others (like Belle and I) will pick, play and appreciate the beauty of this flower.

Here are some memorable photos taken from my I-Phone. I hope we can also grow dandelions here in the Philippines. I think we have other varieties here but I can not remember where and when I saw them a long time ago.

Belle picked one or two flowers at a time then blew the seed head. She did this again and again until we reached our hosts' house.

Notice the design of my blog... Dandelion flowers blown gently by the winds.  Why? Because I can't forget the happiness in my little girl's eyes when she was holding and enjoying them while we were walking for several blocks. It was already 6pm that time but the sun was still shining brightly and the cold breeze was just too perfect for our long walk. I'm glad I was able to capture it on video.

I can still see Belle's face lights up whenever she watches it. Her giggles are so infectious. Little things can bring a big smile in one's face! True happiness is really cheap :)