When we moved to Toronto a few years ago, our new home had “gardening issues”. It seems that the previous tenants didn’t like to use a lawnmower so the grass was at Amazon Basin level. In fact, if our yard had been any bigger, I would have looked for a lost tribe of some sort! The only parts of our backyard that were manicured, in the loosest sense of that word, were the two sunken ruts left from years of parking a vehicle back there.

In some ways, the length of the greenage was a plus because there was an old washing machine and dryer as well as a dishwasher in the backyard. To the tenant’s credit they did eventually have these items removed and that helped quite a bit, but paradise still was far from being reclaimed.

This was what we inherited with our house. This was our challenge. A challenge, I might add, that I had no intention of living up to, but Sheila, Sheila did not fear. She boldly went where no man (namely me) had gone before and she entered the backyard with blades and bulbs, shovels and shrubs flailing.

I personally think she has done a tremendous job. It is a work in progress, but the improvement is substantial. One sore spot though, is that we have yet to do much with the grass other than cut it. At present, our grass only looks like grass if it is freshly cut and you squint while looking through a dirty window. You see, we have a weed problem. In particular, the dandelions are positioning themselves for a hostile takeover and the jury is out on whether they will actually succeed or not.

If I had any sense I would hang my head in horticultural humiliation, but no one has ever accused me of having sense. No, I have no shame. I take a different slant on this whole issue of dandelion distaste. I say, “Up with the dignified dandelion”. Dance, dandelion, dance! Dance your way into our hearts!

After all, who was it who made the decision to call the dandelion a weed in the first place? How can you call something a weed that has “dandy” and “lion” as part of its name? With a name like that, there must be some royal blue chlorophyll pulsing through its stem. Noble dandelion, regal dandelion, how we have maligned you!