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Chicory

November 2nd, 2013

This spring I planted chicory in the garden, mostly for eating, but also for the bees. I like chicory because it blooms for a LONG season and the pollinators love it. Since it’s rather cold tolerant, it will keep blooming late into the fall after many things are long gone.
chicory
This lovely chicory has been blooming for about 2 months now and there’s no sign of it stopping. Not only are the local pollinators happy as clams that somethings still around for them, I’ll be able to save seed for next year’s garden. I call that a win/win!

Do you have anything still providing food for the pollinators in the garden?

11 Comments to “Chicory”
  1. kathi Cook on November 2, 2013 at 6:07 am

    i just pulled out my broccoli that I let go to flower for the bees. Now all my flowers are officially gone for the season.

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  2. Lemongrass on November 2, 2013 at 6:18 am

    my lettuce is now blooming and i intend to collect the seeds. veggies seem to take a long time to bloom here. i have been waiting for my garlic chives and komatsuna to go into seed for close to a year and am waiting and waiting and waiting. i love collecting my seeds—trying to figure out how seed saving will work out here in Grenada.
    i grew chicory in South Carolina during the late fall, and i love adding it to my salad. Will have to do a trade off with some to get some seeds. Anyone open to a trade?
    Lovely blue flowers:-)

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  3. Joan on November 2, 2013 at 6:48 am

    There are still a few asters in the fields, but the marigolds (the last blooming plant in my garden) died with the latest frost. I’m going to try to find something to plant next year to keep the pollinators happy – maybe I’ll gather a few of the still-blooming aster seeds to spread around the edges of my garden. I’m hesitant to plant chicory because it can become invasive so easily, and I’m not always good about weeding around the edges!

    I saw some witch hazel blooming in the woods last week – it will still bloom for a while. Maybe I’ll try to gather some seeds from a witch hazel tree! I wouldn’t be surprised if it were wind pollinated though – I’ll have to check.

    Reply to Joan's comment

    • Joan on November 2, 2013 at 6:53 am

      Well, I just checked, and they are insect pollinated. Insects are so few and far between this time of the year that only about one percent of the flowers produce seed! I like the idea though – next spring I’ll definitely go a seed gathering expedition, or perhaps get permission to dig up a few seedlings in the wild.

      Reply to Joan's comment

  4. Nebraska Dave on November 2, 2013 at 7:34 am

    Susy, is the chicory you are talking about the same chicory they make a hot drink similar to coffee with? What part of the plant do you eat? Every day on this blog is a learning experience.

    There’s nothing alive here. All my plants even the hanging baskets on the poor man’s living patio which are usually the last to go are ready to be dumped in the compost pile. Time to kick back and relax until spring …. yeah right.

    Have a great last flower bloom day.

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  5. Adelina Anderson on November 2, 2013 at 7:57 am

    Nothing but kale and brussel sprouts are alive over here. The mums are half frozen.

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  6. Jennifer Fisk on November 2, 2013 at 9:19 am

    There is nothing blooming in my garden but I did see wild strawberry in bloom the other day.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  7. DebbieB on November 2, 2013 at 11:51 am

    My marigolds are still going strong!

    Reply to DebbieB's comment

  8. mandie on November 2, 2013 at 6:05 pm

    I had no idea that was chicory!! I always thought that was a weed, because it was EVERYWHERE growing up. Like (now Internet famous) Nebraska Dave said, learn something every day here!

    Reply to mandie's comment

  9. Misti on November 2, 2013 at 8:12 pm

    We’ll have plants blooming until sometime in December. I’m actually curious how everything will go through our first winter with the flower bed—what stays around and what dies back. Last year I had dianthus looking lovely all winter.

    Reply to Misti's comment

  10. daisy on November 3, 2013 at 5:19 am

    I recently noticed our salt bush trees were LOADED with bees. They are just starting to blossom and standing underneath them, you can hear the buzzing quite clearly. It’s a sight.

    I’m wondering what your chicory is used for?

    Reply to daisy's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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