In spring and summer, the dandelion sprouts in many places. Instead of tearing it out, the plant can be put to versatile use with these tricks.
It’s getting warmer, flowers are starting to bloom and insects are waking up from their winter torpor. Dandelions are growing in many places, and many amateur gardeners hold them in similarly low esteem to stubborn moss. But the yellow flower is not a weed, but on closer inspection a real all-rounder.
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Do not remove dandelion: small plant – great benefit for the garden.
Whether in the garden or in the wild meadow: Between March and June and in August is the time of the golden-yellow flowering composite. The plant has many a surprise in store, not only for adventurous children, who can make small water pipes from the dandelion’s flower stalks or play with the later dandelion.
What many do not know: Dandelion has served as a medicinal herb for thousands of years due to its high vitamin and nutrient content, as well as its bitter compounds. Its namesake flowers make the dandelion a true home remedy for springtime fatigue. According to Nabu, the plant also balances the gall bladder, liver, intestines and blood sugar levels.
Dandelion is valuable not only for humans, but also for bees. The small, industrious insects can gather around 100 grams of honey from 10,000 flowers. The dandelion pollen and flower nectar serve as the basis for raising new generations.
But the dandelion is not only important to bees: the goldfinch, Bird of the Year 2016, also has it in for the dandelion’s seeds and is therefore particularly pleased when children overlook the dandelion.
For people both medicinal herb and culinary experience.
Dandelion can also provide culinary adventures on our menu from spring onwards: if you give the flowers of the dandelion a chance, you can try out exciting recipes: Whether as a salad, as a pesto, or in a cooked state as dandelion syrup, which can be used as a spread or to sweeten teas – the golden-yellow blossoms are versatile.
Any worries that you might go hunting for dandelions in vain from March onwards are unfounded: The dandelion adapts perfectly to its environment, is firmly anchored by its up to one meter long root and grows wherever the soil is particularly rich in nutrients.
