DANDELIONS AND WHITE CLOVER

      Dandelion and white clover plants have much in common, besides being abundant on many regularly mowed lawns, both kinds together on most lawns, in southeastern Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.  Both these hardy, adaptable plants are originally from Eurasia, and aliens in eastern North America.  Both adjusted to mowing, in different ways.  They both have pretty flowers, and are edible to certain kinds of interesting wildlife, adding life and intrigue to lawns.  Although many people try to eliminate them from lawns, these plants are tough to eradicate, and costly in time and money.  And dandelions and white clovers are prolific, spreading rapidly across lawns, and carpeting them in yellow and white respectively.

     In May, some dandelions produce golden blossoms on long flower stems, while other dandelions have blooms on short ones.  However, the long flower stems get cut off during lawn mowing, which kills their blooms before they produce seed.  But the lovely blossoms on short stems don't get mowed off and produce mature seeds, each one with a fluffy, white parachute that carries its seed cargo away on the wind, hopefully to land and sprout in fertile soil.  Soon, only dandelions that have genes for short flower stems will grow and reproduce themselves on frequently mowed lawns. 

     White clovers adapt to regular mowing in another way.  This species produces new flowers after each mowing, which supplies fresh nectar to insects from mid-May to well into September in this area.  

     Dandelions and white clovers are edible to wildlife adapted to lawns.  Wood chucks and cottontail rabbits ingest grass, dandelion leaves and flower stems, and the blooms and three-leaflet foliage of clover.  Chucks and rabbits add more interest to lawns.

     Northern cardinals, and a variety of attractive, resident finches and sparrows, including house finches, American goldfinches and song sparrows, and lovely, spring migrants, including chipping sparrows, indigo buntings and rose-breasted grosbeaks, consume dandelion seeds on lawns in May when few other seeds are available.  These beautiful, small birds make seed parachutes fly, without their seed cargoes. 

     Honey bees, bumblebees and other kinds of small insects visit dandelion and white clover blooms to sip sugary nectar.  These interesting insects add more beauty and intrigue to lawns as they buzz or flutter from bloom to bloom all summer.

     Though abundant and taken for granted, or even despised, dandelion and white clover plants beautify lawns and make them more interesting.  And they feed certain kinds of adaptable wildlife that add more life, beauty and intrigue to short-grass lawns.  



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