Dandelion
An old English herbalist quoted by Brand took dandelion down floating off on a windless day as a warning of rain. The plant does answer the weather: its flowers close at night and on dull days, a lesson in closing when the light is poor.
What it may mean
Dandelions keep office hours. The yellow flowers open in the morning sun, close in the late afternoon and stay shut on gray, damp days, which protects their pollen from rain. A lawn that blazes yellow at noon can look half bare by suppertime. The plant is not failing; it is closing because the light is poor. Plenty of people try to stay wide open in every kind of weather: cheerful on the bad days, available at all hours, never folded up for a rest. The dandelion opens fully when conditions are good and shuts without apology when they are not, and it is still among the hardiest plants in any yard. If dandelions catch your eye, notice which hours or days are your open ones, and when you could let yourself close.
Depending on how you saw it
A seed head on a damp day
Each round head of seeds is a bundle of tiny parachutes. In damp air they fold in and stay put; in dry air they open wide and catch the slightest breeze. What are you holding back until the conditions are right, and how will you know when they are?
A dandelion in a sidewalk crack
A dandelion can grow from a crack in concrete, sending a long taproot down to find water. It needs only a sliver of room at the surface. Where are you making do with very little space, and how deep could your roots go anyway?
The first dandelions of spring
Dandelions are among the first flowers out in spring, feeding early bees when little else is blooming. Common things can matter most at the start of a season. Who was there for you early, before anyone else showed up?
Why it happens in nature
Dandelion flowers open in bright light and close at night and in dull, wet weather, which helps protect the pollen. A seed head carries well over a hundred seeds on tiny parachutes that fold in damp air and spread in dry air, so the seeds travel farthest on dry, breezy days. A long taproot lets the plant regrow after mowing.
What folk beliefs say
England
Coles, in his Introduction to the Knowledge of Plants, quoted by Brand, wrote that if the down flies off coltsfoot, dandelion and thistles when there is no wind, it is a sign of rain.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 3 (1849), vol. 3, pp. 244-245. View the page
To reflect on
Which are your open hours, and when do you let yourself close up?