Thursday, January 5, 2012

Chicory, Cichorium intybus

Chicory
 Cichorium intybus

If you allow your winter salad green plants to go to seed, you can be rewarded by a tall 2 metre bush of chicory. The delightful shade of blue of this plant is a highlight of the summer garden, though as a garden escapee, it often seen on roadside verges as well. Flowers usually appear in the morning and close as soon as the sun becomes too hot. On cloudy days the flowers remain open for longer. This is a bit of a garden survivor as it produces a long tap-root which remains deep in the soil and regrows from the base if not all of it is removed. It is native to temperate Asia and Europe.

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