You know you've been out in the yard too long (say, 20 minutes) when the Iraq metaphors start taking over your brain. But as I stood there hunched over with the gnats and flies sizing me up, I couldn't help thinking that trying to rid our front yard of those poetically named lion's-tooth leaves really was a microcosm of american foreign policy. Pulling up dandelions is unnecessary (even our neighbors with the perfectly coiffed lawns seem to think they brighten up the place rather than causing an eyesore), mostly futile (even if I could rip out every single plant complete with taproot there would only be a new crop of windborne volunteers next year) and quite possibly does more harm than good (taproots that do come up usually bring a big divot with them, and several bumblebees are likely even now wondering where those nice yellow pollen sources went).
Oh, and when I meet a clump of dandelion with a snail or three (the real viallain in our yard) sheltering in the base, I just pop off the flower head and move on. Ick. But Julie isn't around, and it's something I can do to make believe I'm taking care of the yard.
Even in just a few days I've learned a lot about the enemy. The plants whose blooms I pulled off just yesterday have already come up with a new crop -- sometimes you can see the new head nestling tightly closed at the center of the leaves -- I think there's probably some chemical signal that amkes them speed up the blooming process when they're under attack (if you pull a stalk that holds a mature blossom, I found out last year, it goes to seed overnight, fighting with its last drop of bitter sap to reproduce). There's a weak point just at ground level so that the taproot can stay anchored to grow another day, and all the stalks and leaves together are just strong enough to pull the base out of the ground. Miss one or two and all you do is shred some replaceable foliage. The bigger plants, paradoxically, are often easier to pull out root and all. The bases are stronger, and dandelions grow bigger in loose, accomodating soil.
I also delude myslf that every time I rip off some leaves or pull a flow stalk, I'm forcing the taproot to expend vital energy to rebuild, and that eventually it will be depleted. Anyone want to take bets on who gets depleted first?