PlantFiles: Chicory, Italian Dandelion
Cichorium intybus

Good thing that I like Chicory, because it grows naturally all over my yard. I have never sown this plant, but anywhere that I do not run the lawn mower or weed-eater, I have more than enough of them. At first I thought they were some form of Lactuca and had considered chopping them down. I am glad that I didn't now, because the blue flowers really add some color to the landscape. It's lanky stems and Lactuca like foliage are not the most attractive sight, but the flowers make up for that. Seems to grow best in untilled high clay content soil around naturally occuring Lactucas, Mullein, and Sassafras.

Too funny! Here I go and buy a mix of herb seeds and get all excited about "chicory"...this stuff grew WILD in the ditch in front of my house growing up!

The stuff used to poke me in the legs as I mowed it...and now I've intentionally planted it in my herb garden. Funny how everything comes full circle.

I found in nature Cichorium intybus with white flowers, much better than with blue flowers, really ornamental plant, long flowering period July to September.

I'm told the wild examples I see along roadways and sidewalks are escapees from gardens. I haven't had good luck getting it to start from seed, but it comes where it wants to. A neighbor says it is a weed, because he didn't plant it; I figure it's a gift. He cuts it down and it comes back anyway.
My favorite flower - it comes out on my birthday and blooms every morning all summer; not overly showy, from a tough, unsightly stem.
My grandmother, a Hungarian, used to mix ground chicory root with coffee, making it taste stronger. I've done that, but I don't feel like collecting and eating something that grows in car exhaust. Apparently the leaves can be eaten in a salad, too.

A cheerful little weed that grows along the roadways and in vacant lots. It seems to prefer the hard packed ground for some reason.

Flowers fade by noon, but they are so intense that they are worth keeping them around, despite their short lives.

I happen to like chicory flavored coffee. I didn't get a taste of it till my adult life and was introduced to it by a Cajun friend...I immediately became totally addicted.

This plant does not grow in my current neighborhood but it grows wild in every other place I've ever live in this country. It's not invasive in the strict meaning of the definition, but it is naturalized. And, to my thinking, a welcome citizen it is. The ice blue of the flowers--which die everyday at midday--is unmatched in the plant kingdom for clarity. It is an absolutely beautiful flower.

Edgewood, Washington
One of the best blue flowers around. It grows as a weed here along side of the road and in vacant lots. Love the clear blue flowers and the wirey stems. Only admire it in the wild, can become a pest in the garden.

I have never grown this plant, but I was raised on the Gulf of Mexico, and my Mother was from South Louisiana, and every morning she made coffee with chicory, just as her parents had, in a drip coffee pot, and it was a vile liquid that was almost thick enough to stand a spoon up in.

Consequently, I have never liked coffee, which I guess is a good thing, and I have become a hot tea drinker instead. I think this herb not only has a bad taste, but a very unpleasant and lingering aftertaste. I guess, like Scotch, it is an acquired taste.

I was not aware of this plant until I saw it growing wild on the edge of our local park. I like the blue color and have collected some seeds with hopes to try to start a plant or two. Any suggestions? BobM

HARVESTING/STORING: Use leaves fresh in salads or cook like spinach. Chicory does not dry or freeze well. Collect the roots in fall, and dry and grind them for a coffee substitute.

OTHER COMMON NAMES: Blue-sailors,succory,witloof,Belgian endive.