Why dandelions? What is a TANKA poem?

#poetry #smallpoems #napowrimo #napowrimo25 #tanka #wildflower #dandelions

http://sheri42.net/2025/04/22/call-of-the-wild/

White soft dandelion puffball. Let's all put our heads together to wish for a better future.

https://www.pictorem.com/2339843/Dandelion%20Puffball%20with%20Pink%20and%20Green.html

“California Buttercup” — A California buttercup spring wildflower, Almaden Quicksilver Park.

Previously I have mentioned my habit of returning to seemingly unremarkable places that are special to me — perhaps a particular rock in the Yosemite high country, a certain tree in the Central Valley, an overlook along the Big Sur coast, one small Eastern Sierra aspen grove, and so on. If you visited these places (at the right times) you might think, “Well, yes, that is nice — but it isn’t iconic.” And you would be right. They are not iconic — they are just special to me. This flower photograph comes from one of those places…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/04/21/california-buttercup/

10/10 The roots, too, have a penetrating pungency, containing some tannic acid, and there was once a popular superstition (to which Bacon refers) that if they be boiled in milk and the liquid given to puppies, the animals will grow no bigger.
In Scotland it is the 'Bairn-wort,' (Bairn a Scottish word for child) testifying to the joy of children in gathering it for daisy-chains.

9/10 There is a saying that spring has not arrived until you can cover three, or nine, or a dozen daisy flowers with your foot. If there is some disagreement about the requisite number, it is because there is scarcely a day in the year (except during freezing weather) when there are not hundrteds of daisys on the ground.

8/10 Symbolism in Modern Times
 Generally speaking, daisies indicate innocence, purity, and gentleness on behalf of both the giver and the receiver. "You have as many virtues as this plant has petals," or, "I will consider your request."A white daisy represents shared feelings of affection.  A red one tells of beauty unknown to the possessor. Not sure about pink! 

7/10.A well-known practice originated with heartbroken Victorian maids who wished to be loved once again by their suitors. A maid would pluck a daisy's petals one by one, chanting, "He loves me, he loves me not," . Of course, it was the last petal that predicted the situation's outcome.   A maiden would also grasp a handful of daisies with her eyes closed. The number of blossoms left in her hand were the number of years that remained until she married. 

6/10 Symbolism in Tudor times
 Transplanting wild daisies to a cultivated garden was considered to be very unlucky.King Henry VIII ate dishes of daisies to relieve himself from his stomach-ulcer pain. During his reign, it was also believed that drinking crushed daisies steeped in wine, in small doses over 15 days, would cure insanity. 

Symbolism in Medieval Times
 5/10 While its modest simplicity made the daisy a favorite flower of many poets, its healing and predictive powers made it popular not only with farmers, but also with kings. Spring, medieval farmers would say, would not arrive until one could set a foot upon twelve daisies.To dream of daisies in springtime or summer was a lucky omen, but dreams of them in fall or winter meant certain doom.

 4/10 Primarily known as the symbol of childhood innocence.  This charming wildflower is said to originate from a Dryad (oak dwelling nymph) who presided over forests, meadows, and pastures. According to Roman legend, the nymph Belides, as she danced with the other nymphs at the edge of the forest, caught the eye of Vertumnus, the god of the orchards. To escape his unwanted attention, she transformed herself into the flower belliis.

3/10  The daisy derived it's English name from the Anglo-Saxon terms daes eage.  Meaning "the days' eye" - referring to the way the flower opens and closes with the sun.Bellis may come from bellus, Latin for "pretty", and perennis is Latin for "everlasting".
Geoffrey Chaucer. called it "eye of the day". In medieval times, Bellis perennis or the English Daisy was commonly known as "Mary's Rose".

 2/10 “Ubiquitous, yet humble, common daisy is one of the first flowers we can name when, as youngsters, we are taught to make daisy chains! When a bit older we pull the petals off one by one saying "(S)he loves me, (s)he loves me not" The common daisy flowers from March to October on short grazed (or mown) turf everywhere and they are so familiar we take them for granted but when looked at close up they are attractive little flower”

1/10 Daisy bellis perennis
Other common names
Bairnwort, banwood , banwort , benner gowan , bone flower , bonewort , common gowan , double daisy , ewe gowan , goose flower , gowlan , May gowan , pasquarette , bruisewort , herb Margaret , lockin gowan , luckin gowan , marguerite , noon flower , llygad y dydd (eye of the day) . bone flower.

Daily upload - Apr 18 - Lupin bloom and leaves, Vallejo CA 02961 (2025)

#photography #lupin #BloomScrolling
#flower #wildflower @nature #naturephotography

Daily upload - Apr 17 - Lupin leaves, color, Vallejo CA 02983 (2025)

Yesterday I posted the black-and-white version of this photo.

Daily upload - Apr 16 - Lupin leaves, black-and-white, Vallejo CA 02983 (2025)

Tomorrow I'll post the color version of this photo.

She waves her comfrey root stick to transport herself safely from a place to place, one state of mind to another. She is a Wild Flower. Playful, imaginative, vivacious witch, inhibiting this time and space as unapologetically wild creature.

I struggle to call myself a doll maker lately. It's April, it's a very busy season in the garden and in my mind, and I'm learning to drive a car as a toddler mom close to 40 - it's damn expensive and not coming easily, but I can barely get out of this remote place without driving a car, so I have to. My mental space lately is constantly overloaded, so I carry, lift and dig in my garden to get some sunshine through the thick clouds in my brain. Doll crafting is an essential part of my self-reflection, rest and self-care all in one, almost a spiritual practice, it's also my micro-business and I havent given enough of time to that lately. From who knows where this little lady found the way to my Witch Town, she didn't even knock as an idea begging to be made into a doll, she just arrived with ease and confidence I haven't seen in me for a while. She arrived as a reminder.

P.s. The doll is available in my shop.

Daily upload - Apr 15 - Vetch, Mare Island CA 02925 (2025)

Today's wildflower from the yard: Indian blanket, gaillardia pulchella.