Just dandy!

You know how some things come back to haunt you?

Not always right away, but at some point in your life, you get the sense that you are being paid back for past deeds.

Such was the case yesterday when we were out on the front boulevard.

When I was a little girl, there was a belief that if you picked a seeded dandelion and blew all the seeds off in one breath, you would get whatever wish you made. So, regularly, on the way home from school or playing outside or when visiting friends, I would make a wish, pick an appropriate dandelion, and literally blow it away.

Little did I know I was spreading disaster for homeowners who wanted uninterrupted green grass lawns and dandelion-free gardens ...

... until yesterday, when we spent an hour on our hands and knees, armed with old kitchen knives and wearing comfortable gloves, digging out the little buggers and carefully discarding them in a secure plastic bag. They had not seeded yet, but they would soon, and we wanted to make sure that as much as possible, and for this year at least, we are dandelion free.

Next year, it won't matter so much because we plan to convert our front and back lawns to native gardens, with lots of prairie plants and easy access routes for anyone who wants to enjoy them. But for now, it would be just dandy to have uninterrupted green grass lawns and a dandelion-free garden.

As we de-weeded, I kept thinking back to my youth and all those dandelion seeds I spread in our neighbourhood and beyond. It was a different grass there - kikuyu, known for its rapid growth and aggressive nature, and popular in Australia because it is cheap and drought-tolerant. And kikuyu doesn't like to share with dandelions, which is why I don't remember any in our yard. However, I do remember infestations in lots of other places ... probably some of them courtesy of moi! Sorry.

So, let me just say that if I knew then what I know now, learned at the end of a back-breaking dandelion removal stint on our front boulevard, I would never have actively contributed to the attempted world domination by the dandelion population. But I am going to make up for that now by digging out those little buggers every time they raise their pretty little heads.

And while there might be lots in our neighbourhood, you can rest assured that they won't come from us!