Taraxacum officinale Cœur Plein amélioré

The Improved Full-Hearted Dandelion is a highly productive variety that offers beautiful, compact and well-filled rosettes. Although commonly known as an adventive, the dandelion is full of both dietary and gustatory qualities. Sow from March to June for a harvest from November to April.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), also known as Lion's Tooth, is a perennial plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. Is it necessary to introduce this wild plant? The bright yellow of its flowers, the characteristic tooth-like shape of its leaves, and its feathery seeds make it one of the most well-known "weeds".

The common dandelion can be found naturally in meadows, along roadsides, and even in the middle of paved areas in cities, as well as in the best-maintained lawns, where it is often relentlessly hunted!

And perhaps it is because of this commonness that its qualities are ignored: rich in vitamin C and beta-carotene, naturally diuretic, draining, and detoxifying, its young leaves are excellent in salads. They are also very tasty when cooked, similar to spinach, quickly with a little garlic and a drizzle of lemon juice. Its flowers are also edible and can be used to make jelly, syrup, and a delicious amber-coloured aperitif wine.

In the garden, the Dandelion adapts to ordinary soil, even heavy and compacted. It prefers full sun or partial shade.

Harvest: young leaves are harvested from November to April, when they are still young. Flowers are generally picked in April.

Storage: leaves can be refrigerated for a few days or frozen for a few months, after being blanched for a few minutes in boiling water.

Gardener's tip: to obtain very tender dandelion leaves, it is possible to blanch them by covering them with a small mound of soil, about 15cm (6in) high, or by covering them, as the English do with rhubarb, with a large clay pot.