Wild Yellow Yard Flowers

Dandelions

• Dandelions are considered weeds in many landscapes, however their medicinal and food values are often overlooked. This yellow-flowering weed is entirely edible, from flowers to roots. The leaves are used in salads, wine is made from the yellow flower heads, and the roots are harvested for medicine. Native Americans and the Chinese used dandelions for kidney disorders, urinary infections and digestive disorders. A tea made from the leaves was used to treat heartburn. Many old-timers cooked the leaves in a bit of bacon grease, much like spinach. Now thought of as a weed, this plant was very much in demand.

Buttercups

• Buttercup flowers are small five-petal yellow flowers that grow along roadsides and in fields but do wind up in the front yard. The plant grows from a small bulb and is considered a perennial, but some varieties are biennials or annuals. Some gardeners consider buttercups a weed in the yard; however, these flowers are grown in cottage gardens everywhere. The flowers have a waxy sheen and may have white blooms with a yellow center. A mature plant grows to a height of about 14 inches.

Wild Yellow Indigo

• Wild yellow indigo resembles tiny snap-dragons and grows well in an informal garden. Also known as Baptisia or horsefly weed, yellow indigo thrives in poor soil conditions. The plant is considered endangered in some areas of the country and you should contact your local county extension office to determine the status of the plant in your area. Wild yellow indigo is considered a legume and its growth adds nitrogen to the soil. Although once used for medicinal purposes, the plant is toxic.

Cinquefoil

• Cinquefoil plants have three to five leaves which resemble the leaves of the strawberry plant. However, cinquefoil produces yellow flowers and no berries. Similar to buttercups, the cinquefoil flower also has five petals. The difference is the waxy sheen on the buttercups. The plant was once used to treat fevers, but no scientific proof exists that cinquefoil contains this type of medicinal value. On the other hand, the plant has been used successfully to stop bleeding.