How to Grow Wild Chicory
from Seed
Sky-blue daisy flowers along tall wiry stems, opening with the morning and closing by midday — one of the loveliest, easiest and most ecologically valuable wildflowers you can sow into a cottage garden
If you have ever driven a country lane in July and noticed tall, wiry stems lined with flowers of an almost impossibly clear sky-blue, you have already met wild chicory. Cichorium intybus is one of those plants that hides in plain sight across the British countryside — naturalised on roadsides, field margins and waste ground for centuries — and it is also one of the most rewarding wildflowers a cottage gardener can introduce into a border, a meadow patch, or simply a sunny gravel corner where something interesting is wanted.
The flowers themselves are quietly remarkable. Each one is a flat ring of soft cornflower-blue ray petals, daisy-like in form, opening in the cool of the morning and closing again by midday — a botanical clock so reliable that Linnaeus included chicory in his famous Horologium Florae, the flower clock of 1751. The plant is undemanding, deeply taprooted, drought-tolerant, beloved by bees, and grows happily from seed sown directly into the ground. For beginners and seasoned gardeners alike, it is genuinely one of the easiest things you can grow — and one of the most beautiful.
Quick Facts at a Glance
Plant Type
Hardy Perennial
Sowing Time
Apr–Jun direct · or Mar indoors
Flowering Months
July – September
Position
Full sun
Height & Spread
90–150cm · 30–45cm spread
Difficulty Rating
1 out of 5 — Very Easy
Understanding the Plant
Cichorium intybus is a long-lived, deep-rooted hardy perennial native to Europe, North Africa and Western Asia and naturalised across the British Isles for so many centuries that it is often considered an honorary native. It belongs to the daisy family (Asteraceae) — close cousin to dandelions, lettuces and endives — and its seasonal habit reflects this kinship beautifully: a low rosette of toothed, dandelion-like leaves through winter and spring, from which tall, branching, almost leafless flowering stems rise from midsummer onwards.
Each flower is held tight against the stem and lasts only a single morning — opening at dawn, fully open by mid-morning, and closed again by midday or early afternoon. This is part of what makes chicory such a quietly distinctive plant in the border: the flowers come and go in a daily rhythm, with fresh blooms opening every morning along the length of each stem over many weeks. Though individual flowers are short-lived, the plant flowers continuously through July, August and into September, and a single mature plant can carry hundreds of blooms in succession.
A Botanical Clock
The reliability of chicory's daily opening and closing is so precise that the eighteenth-century botanist Carl Linnaeus included it in his famous Horologium Florae — a planted clock garden in which different species opened and closed at different hours of the day. Chicory is one of the dawn-openers, reliably unfolding its flowers between four and five in the morning in midsummer and closing them by midday. A small but lovely thing to know about a plant in your own garden.
Pollinator Value
Wild chicory is exceptional for bees, hoverflies and solitary pollinators. The open daisy structure provides easy access to nectar and pollen, and because flowering coincides with the late-summer 'gap' when many cottage garden plants are past their best, chicory becomes a vital food source through July and August. It is on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list and on most ecological seed mix recommendations for that reason.
When & How to Sow
Wild chicory is genuinely one of the easiest seeds you can grow. The seed germinates readily, the seedlings are robust and unfussy, and the plant resents nothing more than being mollycoddled. If you have ever found seed sowing intimidating, chicory is the plant to start with — it almost grows itself.
When to Sow — Your Options
April to June direct outdoors — the recommended option. Chicory has a long taproot and resents transplanting, so direct sowing once the soil has warmed produces the strongest, most resilient plants. March indoors in deep modules — possible if you want a head start, but use root-trainers or deep modules so the taproot is not damaged. September direct sowing — also viable as autumn-sown plants overwinter as rosettes and flower the following summer.
Step by step — direct sowing outdoors:
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Choose a sunny, well-drained position. Chicory wants full sun and any reasonable soil that drains. Heavy clay can be improved with a little grit. Avoid waterlogged ground or deep shade — this is a sun-loving plant of dry, open habitats and will not perform in damp shade.
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Prepare a fine seedbed. Rake the soil to a fine tilth, removing weeds and large stones. A small patch — even half a square metre — is enough for a generous stand of plants. There is no need to enrich the soil with compost or fertiliser; chicory prefers lean conditions and flowers more freely in soil that is honest rather than rich.
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Sow seed thinly across the surface. Scatter seed at roughly 2–3 seeds per 10cm — chicory seed is reasonably easy to handle. Cover lightly with about 5mm of fine soil or sieved compost, and firm gently with the back of a rake or your hand. Water in with a fine rose so as not to wash the seed about.
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Keep the seedbed moist until germination. Water gently every couple of days if the weather is dry, but do not waterlog the soil. Germination usually takes 10–14 days at spring soil temperatures, sometimes a little longer if conditions are cool.
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Thin seedlings to 30–45cm apart. Once seedlings have four or five true leaves, thin to leave the strongest plants well-spaced. Chicory plants become substantial — up to 1.5m tall and 45cm wide at the base — and crowded plants flower less well. Discarded thinnings are perfectly edible if you fancy a salad.
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Leave them to it. That really is all there is to it. Once established, chicory needs essentially no further attention through its first season. It will form a sturdy leafy rosette through summer and autumn, ready to throw up flowering stems the following year.
Indoor Sowing — A Note on Roots
If sowing indoors in March, use root-trainers, deep modules or long pots — never shallow seed trays. Chicory develops its long taproot very quickly and shallow containers cause root coiling that the plant never fully recovers from. Sow one or two seeds per cell, thin to the strongest, and plant out into final positions in May at the earliest opportunity, before the taproot has reached the bottom of the cell. Direct sowing remains the simpler and more reliable route.
Beginner's Reassurance
If you have never sown a wildflower before, chicory is the seed to start with. It germinates reliably even in imperfect conditions, asks nothing of you once established, and rewards you with one of the most beautiful and useful plants in the cottage garden. Even in a poor first season — drought, cold, slugs, neglect — chicory generally finds a way through. There is very little you can do wrong with it.
Growing On Tips
Wild chicory's defining quality, once it is established, is how little it asks of you. It is a plant of dry roadside verges and chalk grasslands — habitats where soil is poor, water is scarce and competition is fierce — and it performs its best when treated accordingly. Resist the temptation to fuss over it, and it will thrive.
Sun & Position
Full sun is essential — six hours minimum, ideally more. Chicory in shade becomes leggy, flowers poorly, and produces washed-out colour. South or west-facing borders, gravel gardens, sunny meadow patches and dry banks are all ideal. The hotter and brighter the position, the better the colour intensity of the flowers.
Soil & Drainage
Lean, well-drained, even stony soil is ideal. Chicory thrives in chalk, sand, gravel and any free-draining ground, and tolerates poor fertility happily. Heavy waterlogged clay is the only soil it really dislikes — improve with grit if needed. Resist enriching with compost or manure; this produces leafy growth and weaker flowers.
Watering
Water young plants in the first few weeks while their taproot establishes. After that — essentially nothing. Chicory is one of the most drought-tolerant herbaceous plants you can grow, and supplementary watering is rarely needed even in dry summers. Overwatering is more likely to cause problems than drought.
Feeding
Do not feed. Chicory in fertile, well-fed soil produces lush leafy growth and disappointing flowers. No feeding is necessary in any reasonable garden soil. The lean, honest conditions in which it has evolved produce the best plants — sometimes the kindest thing you can do for a plant is to leave it well alone.
Support
In sheltered borders, no support is needed — the wiry stems are surprisingly self-supporting at 1–1.5m. In exposed gardens or after heavy summer rain, taller plants can lean. The traditional and most attractive solution is to plant amongst supporting neighbours — grasses, knapweeds, scabious — which hold them up naturally without visible staking.
Cutting Back
In late autumn, once flowering finishes and the plant begins to die back, cut stems down to the basal rosette. Some gardeners leave the seedheads through winter for goldfinches and other seed-eating birds — an excellent compromise. The plant will resprout from the rosette in spring and flower again the following summer.
Common Problems & How to Fix Them
Wild chicory is one of the most trouble-free plants in the cottage garden. Genuinely, almost nothing goes wrong with it. The few issues that occasionally arise are all simple to address.
| Problem | Likely Cause | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Slow or patchy germination | Cold soil, dry seedbed | Wait until soil is genuinely warm — late April or May rather than early April. Keep the seedbed consistently moist for the first two weeks. Chicory germination is reliable but slightly slower in cool springs. Be patient; given warmth and moisture it always comes through. |
| Slug damage to seedlings | Damp weather, young soft growth | Young chicory seedlings are occasionally grazed by slugs in wet springs. Wool pellets, evening patrols on damp nights, or a copper ring around precious seedlings all work. Once plants reach 10cm or so the leaves toughen and slugs lose interest entirely. |
| Leggy, floppy stems | Too much shade, over-rich soil | Move plants to a sunnier position, or thin surrounding planting to admit more light. Stop feeding entirely. In lean soil and full sun, chicory's wiry stems support themselves to 1.5m without difficulty. Plant amongst other tall border plants for natural support. |
| Few flowers in year one | Normal first-year behaviour | Chicory grown from spring-sown seed often flowers modestly or not at all in its first year, focusing on building the rosette and taproot. This is entirely normal. Year-two flowering is far more generous, and year three better still. Do not dig the plant up — it is doing exactly what it should. |
| Flowers close before lunchtime | Entirely normal — daily rhythm | Not a problem at all. Chicory flowers open at dawn and close by midday — this is part of its character and the reason Linnaeus included it in his famous flower clock. Visit the plant in the morning to see it at its best, and accept this beautiful daily rhythm rather than fighting it. |
| Spreading by self-seeding | Generous seeding | In sympathetic conditions chicory self-seeds gently — usually a welcome trait. To control, remove seedheads before they ripen in late summer, or simply pull unwanted seedlings in spring when they are easy to identify. It is not invasive but it does perpetuate itself happily where it is happy. |
| Plant disappears after a few years | Natural lifespan | Although treated as perennial, chicory is sometimes short-lived — three to five years is common, particularly in heavier soils. The good news is that established plants self-seed reliably, so a small population maintains itself indefinitely with no intervention. Allow some seed to ripen each summer and the next generation looks after itself. |
When to Expect Flowers
Plants sown direct in April or May will spend their first summer building a strong rosette of leaves and the deep taproot that gives chicory its remarkable resilience. Flowering is usually modest in year one — sometimes a few stems in late summer, sometimes none at all. From the second year onwards, the plant transforms: tall, branching, wiry flowering stems rise from June onwards, with the first flowers opening in early July and continuing reliably right through August and into September.
An established three-year-old chicory plant in full sun is a remarkable thing. Stems rise to 1.2 or even 1.5 metres, branching as they go, and through the height of summer carry a continuous succession of fresh sky-blue flowers every morning for weeks on end. By late August, the plant has often shed its lower leaves and become almost sculptural — a tall haze of wiry stems and clear blue flowers, perfectly suited to a relaxed, naturalistic cottage garden.
Year One vs Year Two
If your first-year chicory flowers little or not at all, please don't give up on it. The plant is doing exactly what it should — building a long taproot and a strong rosette to fuel future seasons. Leave it in place, allow it to die back naturally in autumn, and wait. The transformation in year two is almost always significant.
Sow direct from April to June for sturdy first-year plants and a generous flowering display from the second summer onwards — chicory's quiet daily rhythm of dawn-opening blue flowers will then return to your garden year after year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌱 Sow Indoors | ||||||||||||
| 🌻 Sow Direct | ||||||||||||
| 🌸 Flowering |
Cutting & Drying
Wild chicory is a plant of more enthusiasm in the garden than in the vase, and it pays to be honest about that from the outset. The flowers are exquisite — that clear sky-blue is one of the rarest and most prized colours in the cottage garden — but they are short-lived once cut, and they are not a flower that dries successfully. Both of these limitations have their workarounds, however, and the plant remains genuinely useful for naturalistic arranging if you understand how to handle it.
Cutting Fresh — Manage Expectations
Cut chicory stems early in the morning, when the flowers are fully open and the stems are full of moisture. Plunge immediately into deep cool water and condition for several hours in a cool dark place before arranging. Even with the best handling, individual flowers close by midday and will not reopen — the stem itself remains attractive in the vase for several days, with new flowers opening from buds along its length each morning. Treat chicory as you would treat day lilies: a flower of the moment, with its beauty in the daily renewal rather than in long vase life.
Drying Chicory — Honest Advice
Wild chicory does not dry well. The blue flowers fade to a dull greyish-white when air-dried and lose almost all of their charm. If you want to preserve chicory, the best route is silica gel or pressing — silica gel preserves much of the colour and form, and pressed flowers retain a softened blue that works beautifully in botanical art and pressed-flower frames. Hanging to air-dry, the standard method for most cottage flowers, simply does not give a result worth the effort with chicory.
A More Useful Way to Use Chicory
The best way to enjoy wild chicory is in the garden itself, not the vase — as part of a naturalistic mid-to-late summer planting alongside grasses, knapweeds, scabious, achilleas and pollinator-friendly perennials. A small group of chicory plants threading through such a planting brings the rare gift of clear blue flowers in late summer, when blue tones are particularly scarce in the cottage garden, and supports an extraordinary range of bees and hoverflies. For pressed-flower work and herbarium-style botanical art, chicory is also outstanding — those distinctive blue ray florets press beautifully and retain a soft, faded blue.
Plant Specifications
A wildflower of clear sky-blue, dawn rhythms and quiet, generous beauty.
Wild chicory is one of those plants that, once grown, becomes a permanent fixture of the cottage gardens lucky enough to host it — sky-blue flowers opening at dawn through July and August, an abundance of bees, the deep-rooted resilience of a true wildflower, and the goldfinches that follow in autumn for the seeds. We've selected our Cichorium intybus seed for high germination and the bright, true cornflower-blue flower colour that makes this such a striking plant in a sunny meadow patch or naturalistic border. Sow it once, leave it well alone, and enjoy one of the loveliest and most ecologically valuable wildflowers in the British countryside in your own garden.
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