Connie, my back yard is full of big dandelions, too. It's late for them here in Texas, but we just had that real hard freeze last month.
I like dandelions because they put down deep roots and help open up the sticky clay. I'd grow them as a ground cover if they didn't grow so darn fast and give snakes a good hiding place. I'd have to mow every day.
One of my Asiatic lilies is coming up, but that's because it was in the house all winter. I think the others are probably all dead from the -17 degrees. My irises suffered from that too - only five or six are up, where usually in April, they're in full flush and getting ready to bloom.