Why does everyone hate Dandelions?

When I still lived with my parents I used to like dandelions and the tortoises loved them. They would happily munch through every part of the plant including the stems.

Georgesgran

Rabbits do - especially the stem and root which has a milky substance inside.
However, I hate yellow, so dandelions and buttercups just have to go. I don’t care if it’s a weed or not - if it’s yellow, it goes!

Me too, though I love daisies on lawns.

Granmarderby10

Rabbits like them🙃 ….just saying

So does my tortoise!

Witzend

I don’t exactly hate them,,but there are always so many coming up in beds here, that need weeding out. My weed puller-upper does make it easier, though.
Buttercups, OTOH - I love them!

This is another yellow-flowered weed/aka wild flower I really like - lots of it seeds itself in the garden every year, mostly against walls, but this lot obligingly establishes itself in 2 adjacent pots every year, and doesn’t mind if I forget to water them now and then.
Corydalis lutea, I think - it doesn’t seem to have a common name, not that I have found, anyway.

I've always loved corydalis, you can easily pull it up if it comes up in the wrong place.
There are lovely cultivated versions in various colours, the blue ones are particularly pretty, and I assume that they will grow wild in similar situations though I don't know if they self-seed so readily.

Cats'ears split into 2/3 heads. My front lawn is full of them. It's fun to walk through them but now I must strimmer them as they are turning into seed heads.

That’s Flatweed …not dandelion. Where are the leaves you find with dandelion!?

It's catsear, the leaves look just like dandelion but on close inspection are furry

As Freya says the young leaves (or quickly blanched older ones) make a very tasty addition to a salad

Many years ago i would take the children in dandelion hunts. We had a tortoise and rabbits who loved them.

When we were young, we called Dandelion flowers, 'pee the beds.' And thought that would happen if you touched them. An unconscious bias perhaps.

I used to try to remove them to stop them seeding everywhere but then I read that they are good for bees. We need to help our bees as much as we can so now I leave them be.

One advantage of dandelions and other weeds they must be deep rooted because when the grass turns to straw the weeds are still green

Me too, though I love daisies on lawns. My lovely, late, older sister once went to a local hardwear shop to buy some grass seed as she wanted to remake a small lawn. The man behind the counter asked her what kind she wanted as they had several different types. “One that has daisies in it, please!” she said. She was no gardener, my sister, but was a truly lovely lady!

One of my friends has a large aviary with 24 canaries in it. They adore dandelions especially when the flower has finished and the seed head is formed but not yet open. The birds love to pull the seed heads to pieces so I try to give them a bag or two of treats in the spring.

I heard that we should leave the early dandelions to flower because they are valuable to bees when there are few other plants flowering. I pulled off the heads just before they went to seed as I don’t want my entire garden full of them. A weed is a plant which intends to take over.