Cold lie the daisy banks
Clothed but in green
Where, in the days agone
Bright hues were seen Wild pinks are slumbering
Violets delay True little
Dandelion Greeteth the May
Pale little Dandelion
In her white shroud
Heareth the angel-breeze
Call from the cloud
Tiny plumes fluttering
Make no delay
Little winged Dandelion
Soareth away

Helen Barron Bostwick (1826 - ?)

Even as a boy, I enjoyed reading lots of old poetry about Nature and stuff because….well, I just did….and still do. Apart from anything else, I think it’s interesting to compare Nature’s calendar of way back when with that of today. For example, the verses appearing above are extracts taken from poems written well over a hundred years ago and, like most poetry about Dandelions of that time, May is the month most closely associated with their first appearance of the year. Things have changed in recent years however and these days the humble Dent-de-Lion is to be found in full bloom as early as the end of March. Meanwhile, late May or the first week of June would once have been the earliest time of year to see Dandelion heads gone to seed (even as little as thirty years ago), whereas I took the photo shown above in mid-April!