It amazed me when I discovered that there is such a thing as a pink dandelion!
I recently potted mine up. Taraxacum pseudoroseum is not a native of the UK, but in its homeland, central Asia, it is not uncommon. It has been cultivated in the UK since the 1960s and those of us who grow it here hold it dear. And yet I pull out our common yellow T. officinale so readily; no matter how beautiful, these dandelions are considered just weeds.
In late May, the ungrazed fields around me are almost completely yellow, with the dandelions’ sungazing heads creating a spectacle that competes with the bluebells of the woodlands and the poppies of the cornfields. In just a matter of weeks, the fields turn white, with drifts of dandelion clocks waiting for a breeze to spread their little parachuted seeds on a mission to invade my garden. They find their way into the smallest of cracks in the concrete of my yard and into the slate path that runs up the middle of the garden, and when I pull them they always manage to leave just enough root behind to make sure they return with a vengeance.
Each dandelion seed with its little parachute is a clone of the parent plant. Photograph: Patrick Pleul/AFP/Getty Images
Britain has about 240 different species of dandelion, and since I started questioning my wanton destruction of these plants, I have discovered six of them. I hope to discover more. Apparently it’s quite normal to find 60 different species within just a stone’s throw of your house and, what’s more, some of them may even be endangered on a worldwide scale. About 40 species are truly unique to Britain, with our urban habitats suiting many of them well – our towns and cities harbour not just our natives but also many non-natives; introduced from Europe in grass seed. Conversely, some species are indicators of the highest quality of habitats and wouldn’t be found so close to our gardens and roadside verges.
So how come we have so many species of Taraxacum on our little island, and why?
Dandelions have a trick up their sleeve. They can reproduce by apomixis – they don’t need pollination to set seed, and each seed, with its little parachute, will form a clone of its “parent”. From generation to generation they remain the same genetically. Dandelions can also reproduce sexually and thus the species hybridise. These hybrids then set seed again without any pollination and – bam! – all those seedlings are just like the parent; a new “species” of dandelion has been formed.
Botanists have a name for new species generated in this way; they call them microspecies. It doesn’t just happen with Taraxacum either; Rowans (Sorbus spp), brambles (Rubus spp) and hawkweeds (Hieracium spp) all do it too. In fact this amazing ability has led to Britain being home to some of the most threatened “species” in the world.
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Do you fancy growing a dandelion, but just can’t bring yourself to grow any of Britain’s bog standard yellow ones? Keep an eye out for one of these unusual species; they may be available from specialist seed catalogues or in one of Britain’s many independent nurseries.
Taraxacum pseudoroseum is not completely pink: it sports a yellow centre, that alongside its pink outside rays gives the air of the most perfect sunset. I grow it in a deep pot in gravelly soil in full sun. I grow it like this to make sure it is safe from over-zealous weeding.
T. albidum, T. coreanum or T. parimicum are pure white ones. You may find it difficult to find plants or seed of them, but if you do they would look great at the front of a sunny border.
T. carneocoloratum, with pale peachy or pinky purple flowers is next on my list of species to track down and grow. It hails from Alaska and is supposed to be ridiculously hardy; a subject for a gravelly bed or alpine trough maybe?
Pink hawkbit is another pink ‘dandelion’ type annual flower that’s worth a try. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
And T. rubifolium has deep red leaves which make it worth growing, even if its flowers are reminiscent of the weedy ones invading your veg beds.
If you can’t find any of them then you may be able to find pink hawkbit (Crepis rubra) another pink, and very ornamental, “weed