Theese flowers wake up the most happiest memories of my childhood.
Love the photo #3!!!

Precious!

I think if we called them *wildflowers* instead of weeds the world would be a happier place.

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

So cute! So happy! :-)

Cameron

Just so adorable! The child, not the dandelions.

I thought this was going to be a discussion on thugs in the garden.
I'm glad it was a little girl instead.

Nell

Does she love butter???! I remember doing that with dandelions as a child - they were just prety flowers then....my neighbour's girls were picking them this am, for their mom. Some things never change!!!! lol.

What a doll baby!

One of my favorite flowers! I've never understood why they are so hated. Great pictures.

Excellent portraits! I love how the wind has picked up her hair in the second shot. You will treasure these for years to come.

Adorable!!

I like them too. When my grandchildren come over they have so much fun picking them for little bouquets and when in seed, it's time to make all those wishes. It's also fun to watch the goldfinch eat the seed, they love them! Then next year when I'm digging them out of my flower beds, I just think about my grandkids smiles.

She is adorable and those pictures should be framed in a collage.

You know what they say ... if dandelions weren't so common, they'd be sold for $5 per plant at garden centers. I've noticed that dandelions here in TX are different than the northern variety. They have centers, instead of being all petals.

I love that third picture! When they go to seed, you ought dress your daughter in bright yellow and get some photos of her blowing on a seed head.

What a cutie! And the dandelions aren't bad, either. : ) I love them, too. Didn't we have a thread once on here about dandelion wine? Did anyone make or buy any?

And where's Georgeanne? She has fields of those beauties every spring!

Diana

When we were kids, we picked them all the time. We once had a baby sitter with a huge lawn as I remember and she paid us a penny for every 10 we picked. Spent many afternoons picking and later the special trip to get ice cream with the pennies we had earned.

Nice pictures thanks for sharing.

Karyn

Karyn

Nothing says "love" like a bouquet of "Dandy Lions" held out to you in the dimpled fist of a child. Gottagarden you are blessed! Just look at the pure joy on that beautiful face! Thanks so much for sharing.

Carol

Brenda,
You win the dandelion contest this year!!!!! Ours were prolific but I didn't get any shots. Our DGK's picked the heads for a penny a piece on our only nice day this May.
It's a true sign of Spring for me. Your doll baby is adorable this those pics. Hope you frame those shots...priceless.

georgeanne

Those are gorgeous pictures! You have a knack for photography as well as gardening, and your daughter is just beautiful... she looks so happy. Your pictures so often brighten up the day :)

Wonderful pictures. She is adorable.

A lot of us down home types mix the leaves in spring wild greens.

Life would be simpler if we just accepted some of these "weeds" and quit fighting them!

Thanks for looking. It's fun to share what's happening here, you can see my garden helper. She'll go to kindergarten in the fall and I'll miss her. (Of course, just thing of all that time in the garden!!)

When you have as many dandelions as we do, the only thing you can do is enjoy them, and we do. I think they're beautiful when they first bloom. But then the stems turn rubbery and when mown they simply bend over and pop back up and then the lawn needs instant mowing again.

Yes, I will put these in the "To Be Framed" pile. I hope I get that done before she graduates from high school.

Great idea to pay a penny a piece for picking. (three times fast) It wouldn't make a dent in the dandelion population, but it would occupy them for a long time and I could keep working in the garden. We've had games to see who can find the longest stems or biggest flowerhead, that keeps them busy.

Treelover, that's a great idea to get out there when she's making "wishes" with the camera.

Carol5 you've said it best: "Nothing says "love" like a bouquet of "Dandy Lions" held out to you in the dimpled fist of a child."> I've been blessed with many of those this spring by both kids who never tire of picking those bouquets.

Happy spring!

She looks so cute sitting in a field of dandelions. With her blonde hair, and matching top, she's a vision of Spring time!

I can remember picking bouquets of dandelions for my mother, too.

You've captured such a beautiful, precious moment.

Marilyn

Brenda, she is too beautiful for words.
I hope you frame those photos.

I woke this morning wondering if they know how to construct chains of blossoms by making a slit in the stem near the bloom and pulling the next stem through.

(You may ponder on how little I have to occupy my mind if I wake thinking about how to entertain a child.)

Nell

Those pictures are adorable!!!!

I wish I could convince myself to live with my dandelions - not to mention the wild garlic and creeping Charlie - it would certainly make my life easier. But, the neighbors would probably kill me. ;)

At least my dd has consented to put her dandelions in the big container I use for collecting them before putting them in the big yard waste can. ;)

Adorable pics! It reminded me of my DD...when she was about 3 she went all over the yard blowing the seed heads of dandelions all over the yard...ummmmmmmm yep, I have been fighting them ever since. My side yard at one time looked just like your pics!

Gotta Garden,

you win the dandy-lion contest! wow- that was sure a lot of dandelions! LOL

it really does look beautiful en masse liek that!

What made me smile was that it' sobvious you aren't using chemicals to kill them- and look what you get for it.. ( sure- a lawn full of them..) but more importantly one of the happiest little girls i have ever laid eyes on.

Hard to really think of those flowers as pretty when they pake in comparison to your little one!

I think you should definately get a shot of her doign the wishes- however- I think she should be dressed in all white!
yellow for the flowers and white for the wishers.

Once I asked a friend what flower she would be if she could choose.. and she said " i feel stupid- the only flower i can teven think of at the minute is a dandelion- isn't that a WEED?" and she was all disgusted with herself.

I told her weed was another word for a wildflower and dandelions were not only beautiful in their own right- but she should think about how they simply refuse to stop growing! :)

You really took great pics there. you will cherish those and so will she in later years!

we almost never see dandelions where i live. That center shot is just fantastic Needs to be on a calender or allergy medicine ad! Just too cute and colorful.

These are memories you'll treasure forever. Thanks for sharing.

I agree with everyone else-she is adorable and these photos should be framed.I have never seen that many dandelions in one area before.My grandsons call them wish flowers.I didn't have many this year after 4 yrs of trying to eradicate them.I will show your photos to them this week end of all the wish flowers you have.
moonphase

Dandelions are packed full of vitamins and minerals, including flowers, leaves and roots. The leaves are delicious. Taste great fresh in salads. You can even toss in the flowers. You can steam them and eat them like "greens", and they are good, but are better for you raw. You don't cook away the vitamins (heat destroys vitamins).

Many "weeds" like Dandelions, pump nutrients up from deeper in the ground. They are beneficial to your garden plants.

Earthworms also use their roots as tunnels to access the surface. Two other examples are Pigweed and morning glories which are beneficial when grown in with corn. Pigweed really is a fantastic mineral pump.

Anyway, try a leaf of a dandelion and you will see how good they taste. Very much like Bib lettuce or Romaine. Not only do I eat them, but they are one of the main greens I feed to my rabbit & now the goslings. The rabbit loves the flowers too. They have a light taste of sweet honey. Smell like honey too. That is why honeybees love them. They can be dipped in a batter and fried.

The sticky sap in the flower stems contains a latex that can help get rid of corns and warts, like milkweed sap.

You can crush the leaves and apply to wounds or sores to fight bacteria and help heal. The list of bacteria it can kill will blow your socks off. Remember the royal DANDY-LION.

The roots can be dried and ground and used as a substitute for ground coffee.

You can also make a tonic from the roots and use it to treat ailments of the stomach, gallbladder and kidneys, to name a few.

Dandelions are power-packed herb.
There are many herb books and websites that have information about eating and using dandelions medicinally.
Looks like you have a veritable food larder and medicine cabinet at your disposal in your yard! :)
Lucky you!

Your daughter is simply adorable. Your photography is wonderful.

~ sweetannie4u
And they are among my favourite flowers, too.