My golden yard

Children love them.

You are a bit colder than we are. It must be nice to drive by a botanical garden on a regular basis.

@just4him It would probably be a lot of fun for you.

@GardenGerty It is, and one of these days I'll even go inside and take a look around. I'll need to check on the admission fee, but I can always see the beautiful displays as I drive by as well.

I am across from a field as well. It has dandelions. I think my community is doing what it can for the bees.

Hope the bees do a SUPER production of honey, thanks to your yard!

I will pull them, sometimes. I need to learn to eat them.

@GardenGerty You can use the leaves in a salad.

@JudyEv Those are very pretty. I may have to go do some more research.

That sounds like a blackeyed susan to me. Do you have any closeup pictures.

@GardenGerty I know the black-eyed susan and it's different to that. Attaching a photo.

@fishtiger58 We are raising happy bees. I was pleased to see some traditional honey bees already this year.

You can count on them around here.

@GardenGerty Here too I got lots in both the front and back yards.

@GardenGerty Dig them in the spring to eat as a vegetable and dig them in the fall to make dandelion "coffee," which is mostly what I do. The "coffee" is a mild diuretic and provides nutrients instead of taking them from your system like prescription diuretics do. You just scrub, chop and roast them until they're light brown, then grind them in a coffee grinder. Make the coffee like you would tea or put it in a coffee maker. For a vegetable, dig the fat ones in the spring before there's a lot of growth, scrub and simmer them in water until they're tender. The old ones will be tough, sometimes with a woody center, but the young ones are good. The leaves are more diuretic than the roots. They can be good for the kidneys if you don't overdo it. When they're too old to be good as greens, they're good to add to soups and other dishes where they become almost unnoticeable.

How do you use the roots? I was told those were best in the fall. I do not remember everything I have been told but the leaves are a good tonic for your kidneys.

If you want to try, try the blossoms first Make a simple batter of flour, egg and salt, trim the blossoms of as much green as you can without them falling apart, dip them in the batter and fry them quickly in a little oil. Drain and eat. They don't have a strong flavor and they're good for you.

@AmbiePam You're welcome!

@peavey Thanks for the info!

Oh you should go out and see what is there. The sun is lovely here even though it rained all night.

@celticeagle Depending on my mood I would possibly smile and wave, stare right back, stick my tongue out or maybe make the sign of the evil eye if I knew it. I can sympathize.

@GardenGerty ....I bet it is. I just don't care for the entire neighborhood staring at me. Ugh! Foreigners and they just stare at you.

I do know that they are herbal medicine and I have some tea blend recipes that call for the leaves. It turns out that almost everything that grows in my yard is an edible plant.

@GardenGerty We use its whole plant including flower and root as anti-infective.

It is a very fresh smell, with no chemicals.

@GardenGerty I like that kind of smell...

That sounds like us. I am hoping to see hummingbirds too.

@PatZAnthony I saw some of the white butterflies a few weeks ago. Tonight I saw a red admiral on my front walkway.

It lacks an element of spontaneity when all the yards match. This month's Readers Digest has an article about the cost of a perfect lawn.

@Jessicalynnt In my first home here my back neighbor was retired as head of the parks department. He had a green house. He did not like vegetables but he plowed up his back yard and grew all kinds of veggies, selling them cheaply or giving them away because he did not feel like grass was worth the trouble.

@GardenGerty I feel like it is a waste of time, energy and gas!

In some neighborhoods that is what works best. Around here everything grows wild.

@DianneN That would be lovely.

@GardenGerty It must be very pretty. The woods we have is about as wild as it gets here!

Oh, they come back fast. Persistent. I need to mow. Need to get Mowtivated.

This is what I thought. if I grew them in rows I could call them a crop.

I bet it is rough to have to wait for a ride to do what you want. I feel that way when hubby takes the truck as I cannot get the little car to run.

I have had one crop go to seed. Ready for new.

I have lots of blue and purple and white as well.

I imagine it is. Someone remarked last night while we were at the garden that the dandelions were all happy that it rained.