84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 1, 1999
On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other
hazards) ,
Joyce Bupp
One day they aren’t there.
The next day they are.
That’s how quickly the most
traditional and maligned blooms
of springtime appear when all
the conditions get right.
One day you have that per
fect, green lawn, looking like a
sparkling, new carpet around
your home. The next, Mother
Nature has sprinkled her
cheery, springtime confetti all
about your pristine, mowed
within-an-inch-of-its-life blue
grass.
Dandelions.
Bah! Humbug! Weeds!
Sez who?
Well, no, dandelions don’t
carry the social significance of,
say, a rose or an orchid. They
don’t match the fragrance of a
carnation or a butterfly bush or
a heliotrope. Or exude the
majestic aura of a perfectly
formed iris.
Dandelion stems don’t lend
themselves well to artistic
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arrangements. Nor do they hold
up in a casual bouquet with the
stamina of a chrysanthemum, or
a zinnia, or a host of cheery,
durable daisies. In fact, picked
and plunked into a vase of
water, dandelions will wilt into a
limp mop.
But who could deny the beau
ty of their brilliant, almost-neon
yellow? Their myriad of minis
cule, pointed petals, perfectly
shaped and layered into a
mound of gold? Their attraction
to toddlers too innocent to know
or care that dandelions have
been relegated to the renegade
side of the plant world and who
lovingly pick a bouquet for you?
Is it just coincidence that the
early wild flowers of spring echo
the bright, optimistic colors of
the sky: yellow for sunshine and
blues reflecting the heavens
overhead? As the dandelions
suddenly burst on the scene in
full, if somewhat coarse, blos
soms, dainty wild violets smile
with clear blue faces in color
contrast and natural compan-
ionshii
And, at least in our yard, both
of these uncultivated plants
bloom at the feet of the cascades
of yellow forsythias. Our resi
dent cardinal pair likes to pause
in the forsythia enroute to the
bird feeder, the male’s brilliant
red in dramatic color-contrast to
the glowing forsythia. And cool
weather this year extended their
breathtaking beauty far longer
than usual, along with the
clumps of daffodils—yellow (and
lots of whites, too) —scattered
among the flowerbeds.
Slowly, other colors begin to
introduce themselves into the
landscape, as a few pink
hyacinths venture out under the
contoneaster bush and coral
tulips push up among the late
daffodils on a bank.
But nothing is more indica
tive of the season than those
übiquitous chips of yellow which
scatter themselves about, even
venturing into places where
more “civilized” plants rarely go.
We have dandelions blooming
from between the cracks of a
sidewalk. We have dandelions
blooming between paving stones
forming a patio base. We have
dandelions blooming among
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retaining walls and pushed up
along the edge of protruding old
maple tree roots, where virtually
nothing else dares to intrude.
Under our live-and-let-live
lawn policy, dandelions are pret
ty much left alone in our yard, to
do their thing, then disappear
until another year. Some weeds,
like thistles, find themselves
ousted, but dandelions are toler
ated.
Besides, we recently had a
cow calf with such a huge bull
calf that it injured her pelvis.
She was turned out in the yard,
close by, for exercise. When a
a4-H
HAPPENINGS
The April meeting of the
Lancaster County 4-H Beef Club
was conducted at 7:30 p.m. on
Wednesday, April 7.
The program for the evening
was a Beef Skillathon Practice.
The club also discussed selling
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herdmate developed a severe
udder infection that threw her
off feed, she likewise was sent to
the yard for fresh green grass,
one of the few things she could
eat in her stress.
With a couple of cows wan
dering about the yard, dandelion
blooms are almost welcome by
comparison with other lawn
“ornamentation.” At least with
dandelions, you don’t have to
watch carefully where you stop.
One day they’re here. And
then, suddenly, they aren’t.
If only the other “ornamenta
tion” disappeared as quickly.
subs for its fund raiser this year.
Members will be making subs
Thursday, May 20 at 5:30 p.m.
The next meeting will be 7
p.m. Wednesday, May 5, at the
home of vice-president, Jessica
Schmidt.
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