Chicory (cichorium intybus)

Chicory growing in my kitchen garden.

My favourite blue flower. Chicory is a tap-rooted herbaceous perennial with attractive blue flowers native to Europe and Western Asia. The brilliant clear blue flowers appear from summer to early autumn. It has wiry, branching upright stems with numerous flowers distributed along the branches, growing tight to the stem.

Grow plants in full sun in well-drained soil. Drought and frost resistant. Chicory is a perennial plant that grows to 1m x 0.7m.

Chicory has many uses.

• Chicory is an exceptionally useful culinary and medicinal plant.

• The flowers are edible and have a mildly bitter, earthy flavour. Flower buds can be pickled.

• Young leaves are used in salads for a bitter taste, while older leaves are better when cooked.

• Roots can be roasted, ground, and used as caffeine-free coffee substitute,

• Flowers and leaves are used to produce a dye

• A good pollinator plant for the garden attracts bees and other beneficial insects.

• Chicory acts as a powerful soil health booster, featuring a deep taproot (up to 1m+) that breaks through compaction, aids drainage, and mines nutrients from deep in the soil profile. Its high mineral content adds nutrients like potassium, calcium, and magnesium back to the surface, enhancing soil fertility and structure.

Cichorium intybus is the original plant from which many types have been selected - Belgian chicory, Radicchio or red chicory, and Sugarloaf chicory

Sow seeds

Temperate: Early Spring to Late Summer

Cool: Spring and Autumn

Sow seeds in pots just under the soil. Water and keep damp. Seeds will germinate when the temperatures are around 20C. Grow seedlings to around 10cm in height, harden off and transplant into the garden.

Seeds currently available.

$5.00 - 20 open pollinated seeds

$4.00 - postage within Australia

Email to order - fascinatingbotanicals@gmail.com 

Payment - Bank Deposit or Paypal