More on dandelions...

About a week after I wrote the post on dandelions I was reading this book called Seeds for the Future - Growing Organic Leaders for Living Churches by Robert D. Dale. I was suprised to read the following quote...

"Take the case of the dandelions. At best, dandelions are sources of salad greens from their leaves. At worst, they are troublesome weeds in our lawns. But in every case, dandelions are successful survivors. They hedge their bets by producing thousands of seeds from each little yellow blossom's "puff ball," winged seeds that ride into the wind to other lawns. And, they don't leave their futures to seeds alone. A dandelion's taproot may penetrate three-to-six feet downward into soft soil. That's why slicing dandelions off at tround level rarely kills the plant. In fact, this common gardening maneuver may only encourage a new and hardier plant to sprout up. Think of how the dandelion guarantees its future. It multiplies from roots as well as seeds, and its seeds have wings! Dandelions may not be beautiful, but they are legendary survivors because they hedge thei bets by sowing many seeds." (p.44)