Identify wild plant with tiny blue daily flowers - Ask Extension
Can you identify the plant in the picture attached? I've found it along roadsides--here and there in MN but wow, we went on vacation and this plant wa...
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Identify wild plant with tiny blue daily flowers #877464
Asked July 16, 2024, 12:39 PM EDT
Can you identify the plant in the picture attached? I've found it along roadsides--here and there in MN but wow, we went on vacation and this plant was along many roadsides! I term it a scrub plant because it's wild and seems to thrive in poor conditions along roadsides - hot, dry, pebbly areas. First seen in my yard, next to mailbox. When we moved here, found a cement slab embedded near mailbox, in a planter area surrounded by bricks. Later, when we removed the bricks and let that area go, this plant appeared. I love it. Flowers like a morning glory--every morning tiny blue flowers appear, and as day fades flowers turn white and... drop? I tried digging 5 plants and relocating them, 2 survived over last winter. Would like to propagate. Along roadsides, this plant seems to spread, but nothing seen as large as the one by our mailbox, that is a very large plant - impressive! What is it? My spouse did cut it back last year; I wasn't sure that was a good idea, but it comes back.
Wright County Minnesota
Expert Response
Hi,
This is chicory. Here’s a fact sheet that will answer many of your questions:
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/chicory-cichorium-intybus/
Happy planting!