Dandelions rising
There is a day coming when dandelions may be the principal vegetation left for us.
These deep-rooted plants with the bright yellow flowers have successfully withstood all of our efforts to do them in. Just when you think you have them under control another bit of dandelion fluff blows in on the wind and you have a new outbreak.
At one stage it appeared that we were gaining ground on this weed. Parks, cemeteries and roadsides were sprayed with
2,4-D and the dandelions wilted. Lawns and hay meadows were a lush grassy green.
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Then came the uproar about defoliation of the Viet Nam jungle with 2,4-5T and the guilt by association made it also politically incorrect to use 2,4-D on public and private lands. All kinds of dire health hazards were attributed to both herbicides.
So loud has become the clamor that one looks guiltily around before venturing out to spray a patch of dandelions. The activists suggest that if one can’t live with dandelions you should get yourself a dandelion digger that removes the plants one at a time. Now this may be feasible if you have a two-by-four patch of grass but any substantial lawn or meadow can keep you dandelion digging full time from May through July.
So many people have become apprehensive about herbicides that, in some areas, dandelions are becoming No. 1. Farmers and others who do make an effort to control the weeds find that there is plenty of white fluff drifting in from other properties to promptly reseed.
If anyone would like a mess of dandelion greens for supper, I know where there is a dandy supply.
