Dandelion Wishes

By Michelle Higdon

“Mommy, Mommy, look! A dandelion! Can I make a wish, Mommy, please? Daddy says if you blow the seeds from the tip-top of the dandelion and you wish real hard, it comes true. Please, Mommy, can I make a wish?” Bobby jumped up and down as he grinned at his mom.

“Sure, go ahead. Make a wish.” His mom nodded and watched Bobby run to the dandelion.

Bobby knelt down and picked up the dandelion. Closing his eyes, he made a wish and blew with all his strength, sending the dandelion seeds floating away in the wind. He laughed and twirled in a circle, throwing his arms out, and hoping his wish would come true.

The dandelion is often called a “wishing-flower” because so many children and adults alike make a wish before blowing the seeds away. However, that’s not all the dandelion is. Here’s three interesting facts about the dandelion:

1. The flower of the dandelion opens up in the morning and closes at night, only to reopen in the morning. It’s a routine that the flower always follows.
2. Every part of the dandelion is useful. You can eat it, use it for medicine, or even use it as dye for your clothes.
3. Those seeds you blow into the wind? That wind can sometimes carry the seeds as far as five miles away from where you blew.

Next time you close your eyes, make a wish, and blow those dandelion seeds into the air, think about what you’ve just learned about dandelions – and how far away those dandelion seeds might be going!