Every year around this time, my husband must endure my seemingly endless refrain, "I just love those flowers." "Oh, chicory! I just love that color!" "Did I ever tell you how much I love chicory flowers?"
It's just how it is with me when I fall in love with something. These happy little periwinkle-colored flowers are now dotting the landscape along roadsides and bike trails and in local prairies. It is an edible plant, with leaves similar to dandelion and also having a reputation for being good for the liver.
Also, like dandelion, the leaves become bitter as they mature, so best to harvest them early. The flowers are edible, but can be bitter. The roots are used as a coffee substitute (you may be more likely to see that in the Southern U.S.)
Now for the part that I'll bet you didn't know...
The roots can be dug and planted in a dark cellar, and the plant will grow small pale leaf heads: we know this vegetable as Belgian endive; it is the same species as roadside chicory (Cichorium intybus.)
Have you ever seen what grocers charge for the weeds we pull out of our yards? Amazing.
I do let it grow in my garden, although it mostly sets itself up along the roadside and on the edges of our black raspberry bramble. It seems determined to bloom so I've even seen plants that have set up in our 'lawn' and get mowed send out blooms in the grass. I haven't ever tried to prune it to encourage bushiness and more concentrated blooms, but I'll bet that would work if you find some in your garden bed and want to keep it from getting overly leggy.
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