I don't think they're evil personified, as all the grass-obsessed folks seem to. Personally, I think they're quite cheerful on a sunny day.

Plus, if you like greens - have at with the dandelions. I'm personally not a greens fan, but my Italian neighbor used to take a big basket and go picking dandelion greens from the neighborhood - hey, free for her minus the labor/time, and I'm sure her family enjoyed them, because she was often seen out and about with her basket of greens.

I really like the pic you posted. I have a thing for purple/blue flowers, and those are gorgeous! Plus, because they're light purple, no one will know they're dandelions!!

fledgling, can you give us the link where you found this photo? I'd like to see the site it was on.

I don't necessarily dislike dandelions. They are quite cheerful, and I do have fond memories when I see them in their puff-ball stage. I admit to sometimes picking them and blowing on them or spinning with them to release the "puffs" - which of course makes me chastise myself for all the new ones I will have next year, lol!

:)
Dee

WHEN I LIVED IN SUBURBIA ... THE LAWN HAD TO BE PERFECT.. AND DANDYLIONS .. oops .. had to die ...

move to 5 acres.. and you better either have thousands of dollars for annual lawn maintenance.. or ... develop a zen attitude about them .. lol ...

and kids made a big difference in that attitude.. they spend hours blowing the puffs ... free entertainment..

but.. all that said.. if they invade the garden beds.. swift and immediate death is required ...

try this.. at the site you took the picture from.. try right clicking the mouse .. on the picture.. and go down to click on PROPERTIES and often.. the name of the plant is used as a file name...

or email the website for the info ...

technically .. linking is preferred to taking the picture .... but i wont tell anyone ... lol

ken

Looks like Pinaropappus roseus, v. roseus (Pink Dandelion, Rock Lettuce, etc.)
Check the link below to see if that is it.
Rb

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinaropappus roseus

MM that may be it, i suppose. I should have linked, right, here is the site...

Here is a link that might be useful: Site

Gee, well that didn't help as much as I thought it would, lol! Seems to be a Japanese site, and all I got was pictures and a bunch of symbols, mostly squares.

This is a really cool flower. Reminds me of crepis rubra. I tried your trick Ken, but the properties only said "pink dandelion" lol.

Anyone speak Japanese?

:)
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:195883}}

That picture you have sure is a pretty plant.

My mother used to make Dandelion Wine - that's good stuff. And it makes good rabbit and guinea pig food too.

I'm pretty sure diggerdee is right, the plant pictured above looks like Crepis rubra, but that Pinaropappus does not look half bad either!

I do grow some fancy dandelions (Taraxacum ssp.), but I'm not sure if I actually like them... If anyone wants to start collecting them there's a purple leaved one named Taraxacum rubrifolium, an apricot-coloured one named T. pseudoroseum and several white flowered species (T. albidum, T. pamiricum etc.) {{gwi:195884}} turn up sometimes as well, so you could end up with a pretty colourful lawn!

I tried to find out this morning if crepis rubra was known as a pink dandelion, but I couldn't find anything, at least on a fairly quick google search.

I grew crepis rubra two years ago, and was a bit underwhelmed. The blooms were really quite lovely, but also really quite tiny, not dandelion-sized at all. (Well, at least not the size of the dandelions in MY yard, lol). I'd say not more than a 1/2 inch in diameter, if even that big. The plants were a bit scraggly and weak too, and taller and more spindly than what I would think of as daffodils.

But now I wonder that if it *is* related to the dandelion, maybe having it in a pot with good quality potting soil was too rich for it!

It was really a pretty little bloom though, and after seeing fledgling's photo, and looking at crepis photos, maybe I'll give it another try - but this time in poorer soil!

That is, of couse, unless someone can actually find out exactly what fledgling's pink dandelion is - then I'll grow that!

:)
Dee

Dee, I think you hit it spot on with the identification. I dont know why, but I have Japanese... whatever you call them... installed on my browser, and on closer inspection the... symbols... on top of the photo are identical to a batch next to the Crepis rubra scientific name on that page also.

Thanks also for your experience growing it. One source said it was from the Mediterranean. Crepis is the Hawksbeard genus too, so... perhaps poor dry soil would suit it. I have that!
Hawksbeard flowers around here atleast do tend towards the small side, though.
Thanks for the ID, I think I will give this a shot.

Oooh, maybe my neighbor was making wine - never thought of that LOL! just assumed she was frying the greens. Maybe some of both....

Hmmm, on my monitor, the original photo looks lilac, not pink. Is it lilac or pink in real life? Either way, I really like it!

I believe the flowers on Crepis rubra are rather small. Seems I recall approximately ½" mentioned, for those in cultivation.
View a series of 63 photos from CalPhotos on this link:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Crepis+rubra
and a Technical description from Flora of N America on the link below. They describe the corolla as 16-17mm in dia.(0.63"- 0.70")
Rb

Here is a link that might be useful: FNA - Crepis rubra

"...and taller and more spindly than what I would think of as daffodils..."

Duh, obviously I meant "dandelions"!!

:)
Dee

Milo, I forgot to add that the t. pseudoroseum is pretty nice! If that picture is fairly true, the color is quite lovely!

Razorback, those flowers in the photos you referred to are much larger than mine were. Actually, that was the size I was expecting, and as I said, I was rather underwhelmed by the size that they actually were. Still very pretty, though.

:)
Dee

There are 3 varieties of Dandelion available from Arrowhead Alpines (a must read catalog, though be warned there are no pictures and it is 100 or so pages)

Taraxicum Albidum, T. Leucanthum and T. Pamiricum.

~Chills

It may be Crepis rubra, which according to Cotswold Garden Flowers, has larger flowers than Crepis incana. You can purchase C. rubra seeds from Thompson & Morgan