Flower or Weed?

Around this house, dandelions are flowers. We live in a part of North Carolina with very acidic soil and that gives dandelions the perfect growing conditions. Since the kids were little, they would go pick them once they were big fuzz balls, make a wish and blow for all they were worth. They still do. I never thought that was making a breeding ground for them. We enjoy them when they are yellow and we enjoy them when they are ready to 'blow.' However, Miss M's mom didn't like us blowing them in her yard. So we kept it to our yard. A couple of weeks ago, Miss M and her dad were on a walk while I was getting the mail. She was wanting to run everywhere, and in a moment of desperation, I grabbed the first thing I could find to get her attention - a dandelion ready to blow. She LOVED it! She could blow them or shake them and those little future dandelions would hit the wind. "More, More, More!" She was hooked! Not realizing I had created a monster, I went back into the house. Everytime I see her now, she wants to pick the 'yellow flowers' or pick up and shake the 'white flowers.' Last I heard her parents were calling a lawn service to have their yard sprayed for weeds. Some people just can't be converted.

A weed is no more than a flower in disguise.

James Russell Lowell