The humble dandelion

Dandelions are such an underrated flower. I won't call them weeds because I think they're beautiful. Not only are they a gorgeous sunshiny yellow, they transform into the most delicate fluffy balls (we call them dandelion clocks) and if you really look at them closely you'll see how intricate the pattern of the seeds are. When the seeds blow away in the wind they look like a ballerina's leg complete with ballet shoe.

I'd been trying for a while to get a decent photo of just one seed falling at the side of the dandelion clock, and today I captured the best photo ( in my opinion ) I've taken so far. All of the seeds bar one blew away from the top of the clock, leaving just one seed balancing like a ballerina on point. I'm so pleased with the photos and this is the best one so I'm posting it here. I like the effect of it in black and white but I've posted the original colour one as well.

They truly are the most magnificent flowers. They also are the first source of food for bees in the Spring.

I've posted a video showing the transformation a Dandelion goes through from flower to clock (seeds) It's surprising how many people don't know the clocks are from dandelions. They think they're two different flowers!

Dandelion flower

Dandelion Clock (Seeds)

My original photo

                                                    A time lapse of a dandelion to seed