Swine's snout

 You might not recognise the name Swine's Snout, but you'd be hardpressed to not recognise this very common flower which is the bane of many a gardener's life with its long tap root and ability to grow just about anywhere, but I'm here to champion the overlooked and the ordinary. Maybe if we reframe the humble dandelion perhaps we might view it a little more kindly.

A few weeks back I was rushing back from the dentist's before I had to start work when suddenly I noticed the verges swathed in a carpet of gold. After so many weeks of sludgey colours and many grey skies, their brilliant yellow really made a marked impression upon me. I vaguely knew that people make wine with them and that the leaves can be eaten, but some of the wildfood pages I follow are now showing cakes and biscuits with the flowers in...there are many recipes on this link if you're interested in having a go https://www.arosetintedworld.co.uk/dandelion-recipes-20-ways-to-use-this-versatile-flower/

There are many different aspects to the dandelion [from the French dent de lion meaning tooth of the lion because of the indented edge to the leaves]. It's a member of the daisy family and despite yellow being its primary colour they also come in pink and white. For me they mark the end of the winter and are a bright reminder of the delights which come with the warmer months. They are seen as a symbol of hope, growth and tenacity [they do seem to thrive in all sorts of difficult conditions] and for some they represent the celestial symbols of the sun, the moon [the globe seed head] and the stars which are the individual seeds. Those seeds are its mature fruit and are called cypsela. It's not really surprising that they grow so far and wide when you consider a single one of those can travel up to five miles!

The joy for me as a child was simply blowing on the seedhead. This stage of its life has given rise to the names of Telltime and Blowballs. Other country names are cankerwort [canker is an old term for a tumour], priest's crown, milkwitch [from the white liquid which comes from the stem and was used to treat warts and corns] and in Tudor times they were rather unattractively known as pissabed because they are a potent diuretic. Here at GBT I tend to leave a few to grow in our garden [so long as we don't get overrun with them] because it's all part of our drive to make our it as wildlife friendly as possible and attract the pollinators. Nothing whatsoever to do with the fact I will do almost anything to get out of having to do any gardening😂💛🌻

Arilx