Mighty Fine and Dandy Dandelion

Mighty fine and dandy indeed is the tree dandelion of the genus Sonchus, rather than the common and often noxious weed Taraxacum officinale. 

A Cornish friend gave us a tiny seedling of the tree dandelion Sonchus canariensis last May. Not fully sure what to do with it, we planted it out anyway in a border that used to have a mature Phormium tenax in it (which got severely damaged last winter and consequently removed since then) to let it do it's own thing, hoping it would do well and make a good display in the summer, treating it as an annual.

Fighting it's way through other foliage plants

And a good display it is making now indeed, attracting attention and compliments from visitors whenever they wander around our middle patio area. It is turning out to be a truly beautiful foliage plant, with it's fern like leaves, size, and vigour in growth. And to think it's nowhere near it's potential maximum height yet, it is still relatively a small plant. With my fondness for this plant increasing, rather than treating it as an annual I'm intending on digging it up in the autumn and overwintering it inside our heated greenhouse.

Another tree dandelion that I like and used to grow is Sonchus fruticosus, with it's much bigger leaves and more lush appearance that looks great in a jungle style garden, or as a focal point of a summer border. We used one as an annual one year and let it get frosted to the ground in the winter. It never came back again of course and I expected that. But on milder locations in the UK (like coastal Cornwall, inner city London, etc) and during that recently bygone era of milder British winters this particular tree dandelion can sail through fine, going herbaceous and coming back from the roots in the spring at least, but grows fast enough to be of a decent sized specimen again in the summer. 

In exceptionally mild Tresco, this remains evergreen. Here's one we saw whilst visiting:

It is possible however to keep this in a pot permanently, going out on display for the summer and back in the greenhouse again for the winter. More likely you won't get huge growth treated this way, the restriction on the roots due to pot culture will stunt it's growth but at least you can keep it to a more manageable size. And if it does eventually get too leggy and unhealthy looking it is easy from seeds and cuttings and from there you can start again if you wish.

Hmmmm.., I might just do that next time I get hold of one again!

There are several tree dandelions out there. None are reliably hardy for nearly all parts of the UK, but most are fine overwintered under glass that is heated to at least a minimum temperature that doesn't go down below zero Celsius and remaining frost free all throughout. 

So if you want a unique annual to grow in your summer border in the future then this plant is worth considering. Or if your location is mild enough then grow it outdoors permanently, where it will become a bold, stately plant. And if you're lucky it might even self seed on your lawn ;-)

Mark

Posted in: Plant profile , Sonchus