Friday, August 03, 2012

Wild chicory

La chicorée sauvage. It's one of the more common wildflowers I see this time of year on the edges of the vineyard parcels. I also have some cultivated chicory/endive in the vegetable garden. We ate most of it in salads, but one of them went to seed and now we have a bunch of blue flowers similar to these.

Just beginning to open up in the morning sunlight.

Wild chicory among the wild carrots.

Each plant bears many flowers.

This one is about halfway open. It doesn't take them long to open up when the sun hits them.

9 comments:

  1. Walt, that last photo is stunning!
    m.

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  2. I agree with Mark. That last photo IS stunning! I've seen these in fields in the past and never knew what they were.

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  3. Glad to hear you're going to hire someone
    to do the hedge. Worth every penny.
    I'm curious to know what part of the
    cultivated witloof you ate from the
    garden. Or are you referring to curly
    endive?

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  4. So, is it the big hedge of bay leaf all around the yard that you may be getting trimmed by this guy?

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  5. Am I only receiving 1/2 of your blog, Walt? I don't have any info on your hedge in what I am reading; perhaps you are sending some people additional info. Anyway - I am happy for your back that you will be hiring someone else to do the future hedge trimming!

    La chicorée sauvage photo enlarged would be perfect for someone's space behind a sofa, in my opinion. I have large windows so it wouldn't work for me. Ethan Allen is always showing large florals with those vivid hues in their catalogs.

    Mary in Oregon

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  6. C'est vrai que cette chicorée fleurit en début de matinée et fane généralement en début d'après midi. Il est très rare de voir ses fleurs le soir. Lorsque j'étais enfant, mes parents en faisaient des salades à l'époque où l'on cueille aussi les pissenlits. Mais c'est beaucoup plus amère. Aujourd'hui, je n'en vois plus qu'au bord des routes. J'ai programmé pour le 14 aout, sur mon blog, un billet consacré à cette plante :-).

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  7. Good idea to hire someone for the hedge. For us, some shrubs are pruned in Spring whilst the cedar hedge is done in the fall when the temp is cooler.

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  8. Lovely... one of Nature's true blues... I've been selectively mowing round a quantity of ours [I don't think Pauline's too amused?] because I want to move them elsewhere... along with our one that went to seed from a salad mix!
    And that last photo has set me a challenge!! Hope the wevver is nice tomorrow morning...

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  9. When I lived in Pennsylvania, wild chicory grows along side many of the roads and is considered a week. I always knew it was more and your beautiful photos prove me right.

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