They Are Not Weeds, Those Dandelions

Daisies, roses, petunias, pansies – the list is long. Beautiful flowers in many a greenhouse are just waiting to be taken home, where they will be put into planters and pots and flower beds to add a brilliant splash of color to yards.

Not to be outdone in beauty are the wildflowers that are found along roadsides and on the prairie. Soon bright yellow sweetpeas will be seen all through pastures and in ditches. And bluebells will add their fragrance to the air.

There's something healing about planting flowers. Something that brings joy and ease to your heart. Adding potting soil to a flower pot and then putting in the already blooming flowers soothes a person's spirit.

This past week I've been able to thoroughly enjoy planting a wide array of flowers. Some of them will last only through early fall. But others will go into hibernation once the weather turns colder, resting before they once again burst into bloom in the spring.

Several of my grandchildren have helped me with my flower planting. As we worked side by side, I was reminded of one of them – at the tender age of 4– racing into the house to proudly display a handful of bright yellow dandelion blooms and highly upset at a cousin saying that dandelions are weeds.

Looking at that little face with tears about to fall, I told that grandchild to tell their cousin dandelions are God's flowers.

The slamming of the screen door provided the background to a small child remonstrating the cousin with “My grandma said … ”

Oh, to be able to always see the beauty in our world through a child's eyes!

So as I watch the flowers I planted grow and bloom, I'll also look at the bright yellow dandelion flowers and remember when a little child was highly incensed at being told they were only weeds. And my heart will laugh again at hearing, “My grandma said ...”

Sandy Laumeyer is The Courier's Nashua correspondent.