Wildlife gold!!!
Day 290 #365DaysWild
Golden dandelions. Much maligned.
Deep-rooted lawn perennials.
Pre-digital timepieces!
And a diuretic.
‘You’ll wet the bed if you pick them!’
Previous generations of gardeners (and many current ones too!) see (or saw) dandelions as the enemy. Out came the garden tools or 
more perniciously the pesticides. Dr Hessayon, the doyen of lawn monoculture and author of ‘Be your own lawn expert’ led the war. I hope we’re reaching a turning point.
more perniciously the pesticides. Dr Hessayon, the doyen of lawn monoculture and author of ‘Be your own lawn expert’ led the war. I hope we’re reaching a turning point.
Dandelions are sooo important for our invertebrates. They can supply food to a number of different pollinators including bumblebees, butterflies, hover
flies, day flying moths and solitary bees.
flies, day flying moths and solitary bees.
They’re a fascinating species - or number of species and micro species. Look out for the different leaves to help identify.
If our aim as gardeners is to boost the population of invertebrates in order to boost those that depend on invertebrate food, dandelions are useful allies.
Wildlife gold!!
4 comments:
Fascinating - thanks Rob.. I got as far back as 23rd March reading your blog tonight. Fran
Keep reading Fran!! Thanks for your time!!! Rob
Grey patched mining bee? Having never seen one before, they are suddenly everywhere!
I am pretty rubbish at invert ID - gotta tell you!
I watch ‘Ramblings of an entomologist’ by Trevor Pembleton on YouTube (recommended) and leave each episode even more aware of the yawning canyon that is my knowledge! I lean too heavily on ObsIdentify and that’s not always accurate.
Must try harder!!
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