Chicory, Wild Form (Cichorium intybus var. intybus), packet of 100 seeds, organic
$2.95
Family: Aster (Asteraceae)
Hardy to Zones 3 to 7
Native to Europe, North Africa, Asia. Herbaceous perennial flowering light blue to a height of 3 feet. Plant prefers gravel, dry waysides or waste places. Root dug and dried as a coffee substitute. Fresh leaves in salad are a nutrient dense bitter digestive. Sow seed on surface fall or spring and thin to 1 foot apart.
100 seeds per packet, Certified Organically Grown
In stock
Laura M (verified owner) –
These wild form chicories vary quite a bit, and I enjoyed selecting my favorite plants (I liked the ones that had a leafier growth habit). All plants were quite bitter, too bitter for my palate to include in a regular salad. Perfect for using as an actual bitter before a meal, I like chewing on a leaf before lunch. Some bolted the first year, many more the second, and some are bolting for the first time now (third year). I will be sure to always have a few chicory plants tucked away here and there so they can send up their beautiful wispy flowers.
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Question
raebratzz –
Hi! I was wondering how this chicory differs from the cover crop variety?
Thank you!
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Richo Cech –
Hi, The cover crop chicory is a select cultivar–leafy, with high protein content. The wild form is just that–the heavily taprooted native land race as nature made it. Richo
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Raaya (verified owner) –
I live in zone 8b (Whidbey Island WA), do you reckon I can successfully grow it?
Is it deer resistant or should I fence it from our hungry deer neighbors?
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Richo Cech –
Hello Raaya, Chicory does grow on Whidby Island and it is pretty close to the #1 preferred deer food on the planet, second only to broccoli. Richo
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Raaya Adato (verified owner) –
Oh! Haha, well maybe then I’ll plant some for them too so they’d be less keen on munching off of our apple tree leaves and rose bushes… Thank you for the response! I wonder then if it will do well in pots? if so what would be the minimum size for the pots?
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Richo Cech –
Taprooted plants usually aren’t very happy in pots, although a deep pot might be OK, and if the plant gets a chance to send its root out the drainage hole to find the real dirt then it will once again be happy.
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Tiffiny –
How long are the seeds good for?
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Richo Cech –
hi tiffany, 3 years in dry, cool storage. richo
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Shannon –
Hi Richo–are these plants annual or perennial in the PNW (I’m in zone 8)? Will they self seed?
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Richo Cech –
hi shannon, if you click on the photo that gives you the monograph.
these will self-seed, thats how they move around the globe, taproooted and herbaceous perennial. richo
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Cheyenne –
How does this differ from the “italian dandelion” form?
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Richo Cech –
this will have more lobed leaves, more tomentose, less leaf productive, more root productive. the italian dandelion chicory is what you encounter in the grocery store sold as “dandelion greens”
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