How does dandelions eliminate waste?

Most of the dandelion plants grow in places that we will mow every two weeks or so, but only after the dandelions have gone to seed. We want to keep dandelions around the garden because we value the pollinators that they attract.

The bees need the dandelions as an early source of nectar and pollen, but the dandelions do not need the bees. They can reproduce by a process called apomixis, the seeds developing without pollination. Each new dandelion is thus genetically identical to the parent plant.

Dandelions brighten the early spring landscape. Together with the carpets of bluets that flower at the same time, dandelions turn otherwise uninspiring expanses of lawn into mosaics of color and texture.