I know about the bees, but has anyone else noticed an absence of dandelions?

[hedgehog]

My side lot is an old pasture, green but hardly a typical lawn. For 25 some years, it's been covered with dandelion flowers in the Spring, and sporadic blooms all summer.

This year, not a single one.

On the half mile power line right of way, plenty of other wild flowers a/k/a weeds, but no dandelions.


We have never put anything, fertilizer or weed killer on this lawn. My husband says the dandelions are still there, that they just never bloomed.

We did have some chilly weeks in spring, but it's warmed up since then. If they need an extended time of dry weather to bloom, that might be the problem since we haven't gone more than a few days without rain this year.

[alfie]

1. Unfortunately...

They are alive and well in my garden.

[pipi_k]

2. Hmmm...now that

you mention it, I have noticed there aren't as many dandelions around lately.

I still have plenty of bees at my house, though. In fact, one of my apple trees is loaded with apples this year...way more than it's ever been.

One sort of weird thing that happened this year...not as many frogs in our two ponds...

and...we've had feeder goldfish in the ponds for ten years, at least. They always survive the winters, and one of them even grew to be over 12" long (but was, sadly, eaten by a river otter one year....RIP Fishzilla).

This year, over 300 goldfish were nowhere to be seen. No bodies. Nothing.

Mr Pipi bought some minnows, and three separate crops of them died. The fourth crop hung on, and appears to be thriving, along with a couple of Pumpkin seed fish.

But the goldfish...and the frogs...a mystery. Maybe the otter got them...maybe it was acid rain...I don't know.

[gvstn]

3. Maybe the cold wet Spring?

I think your husband is correct, the dandelions are there but they didn't flower as usual. I know the first few lawn cuttings of the year usually go that I cut the flowers then the next week I have tons of the white puffy stalks that spread the seeds. This year very few flowers and practically no white puffy things. I do still see some dandelion plants in the usual places but very few flowers. I'm guessing that it is not a die off but a fluke of the very wet weather. I'm in the Northeast.

[hedgehog]

8. I should have noted - I'm in the North East , too; Central NY near Lake Ontario.

[bettyellen]

14. yep, this is what is happening in the NE, less flowering all around- and the bees are having trouble

storing enough honey for the winter. My friend is a bee keeper and he's bummed he might have to give them sugar to make it through the winter. He has an incredible garden, but they didn't have the early season sun needed.

[NV Whino]

4. They're all at my place.

[magical thyme]

5. no shortage of dandelions, either in my yard or my garden

I decided to have a go at dandelion greens this spring. They are too bitter for me, even using the official recipe in the local weekly. But when I mixed a small amount with spinach and added it to a soup, the bitterness dissipated completely.

I'm not seeing as many bees this summer, but we're back to cool and rainy and I haven't spent the time weeding my garden that I should be, so that might be why. I did see a couple little bumblers yesterday. I miss my orange-butt bees though. They had gone from a single one to a little colony, but I didn't see any at all last year.

[NJCher]

10. dandelion tea

Makes a great diuretic that can bring blood pressure down.

And speaking of, I noticed fewer dandelions, too, but I thought it was 'cuz I was using them for my tea.


Cher

[magical thyme]

15. my blood pressure is already rock bottom

so I think I'll skip the dandelion tea and leave them to feed my few bees.

[antiquie]

6. One dandelion this year, so far.

Only one relevant search result, a pdf:

Chapter 22
An Apomixis-Gene’s View on Dandelions
Peter Van Dijk, Hans de Jong, Kitty Vijverberg and Arjen Biere

If asexual lineages go extinct because of the accumulation of deleterious mutations
or a lack of adaptability, the apomixis genes may escape extinction via crossing with
sexuals. Apomixis genes become incorporated into new clones, with a genetic background
that is partly drawn from the sexual gene pool, that is freed from deleterious
mutations and that is potentially adaptive.

[Tippy]

7. No dandelions in my yard and my neighbor is a bee keeper...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. You can have some of mine - I have plenty!

I love the dandelions in the fields surrounding my yard

[MadrasT]

11. Now that you mention it

Not a single one bloomed in my yard this year- the plants are there but they did not flower like they usually do

(And I do not treat my lawn at all)

Huh

(I am in SE Pennsylvania)

[Shrek]

12. I wish

My yard is full of them and nothing seems to work.

[a la izquierda]

13. We have a lot of both here in WV

[meaculpa2011]

16. After Superstorm Sandy...

many of our plants have not recovered. There's still plenty of salt in the ground.

However, no effect on the Dandelions, Milkweed or Crabgrass.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. Lots of bees here - only seen ONE dandelion

.
.
.

But my yard, which is close to 2 acres has tiny yellow flowers only grass height - look a bit like buttercups -

gotta watch where I step, cause I walk around barefoot all the time.

Also got all different colors of wildflowers around the edges, and a couple of patches I let grow beside the house,

Go out the door, and the bees are happily buzzing around feeding on the wildflowers.

They are welcome, as all my other visits from momma nature's critters.

Don't miss the dandelions tho . . .

CC