Dandelions. The scourge of gardeners around the world. But did you know that bees love dandelions as much as the next flower? After their winter hibernation, the bees are after protein, and dandelions, with their protein-rich pollen, are the first flower of the spring, and plentiful. True, bees need more than just dandelion pollen to survive, like any other creature, they need variety in their diet, they have to get pollen from more than just one source. But dandelions are prolific, and they are guaranteed to be there every year.

Where am I going with this? Of course I’m going to give it a Jedward application. You’ll remember my article about dandelion thinking, getting out there, spreading, knowing that one day each of those seeds will settle, and, even if not flourish straight away, they will…one day. The dandelion approach isn’t the only way of doing things – but it’s effective and keeps things ticking over until the other flowers arrive.

The dandelion (and by extension dandelion thinking) therefore has its place. Sure, some people find them irritating, but they provide a stepping stone to the next flower. And they help keep the bees alive.

Just as bees need pollen from a wide variety of flowers to keep them strong, so too do we as fans need to try different approaches to support the twins. We can’t all be dandelions, nor should we. But at the same time, we can’t all be prize roses or a greenhouse cultivated orchid. The thing to remember is we’re all in this together. The flowers need the bees, and the bees need the flowers. Everybody has a part to play.

(originally published here)