The chicory with its blue flowers can often be found along roadsides. But the popular medicinal plant can also be kept in the garden. The prerequisite is the right location.
The chicory (Cichorium intybus var. intybus) is not only the flower of the year 2009, which has been known since 1753, but also a popular medicinal plant that can be found along many roadsides . That's where the chicory gets its name from. After all, the robust plant, which is not very susceptible to disease or pests, seems to be waiting for people walking by along the way. With its bright blue flowers, the plant reaches a height of over one meter. The leaves of the versatile plant are reminiscent of dandelion. As a result, confusion cannot be ruled out, especially in the young plant stage.
The native perennial, also known as chicory, is also known to be a magnet for bees. So then there is a wild hustle and bustle in your own garden. The medicinal and medicinal plant is also a very old cultivated plant that has hardly lost its popularity. In the past, some plant components were even added to coffee beans to provide a special aroma.
The use of chicory as a medicinal plant
The chicory is so popular as a medicinal plant because of its extremely versatile uses. For example, common chicory is traded as a starch substitute for all diabetics. But even with eczema and skin diseases, the plant promises relief on a purely natural basis. Chicory was also commonly used in the past to purify the following organs:
- Bale
- kidneys
- Liver
- Spleen
In addition, the cultivated plant, which belongs to the genus Asteraceae, is also good for the mind. After all, the medicinal and vegetable plant is said to have a stress-reducing effect as well as a psycho-relaxing and sedative effect. In the pharmaceutical industry, various ingredients of the chicory are still used today - both for internal and medicinal usealso for external use. Not only medicinal herb recipes are known for diabetics, but also for the following clinical pictures:
- Anemia
- Loss of appetite
- Eye infections
- Asthenia
- Jaundice
- Skin - for example eczema
- Gout
- Rheumatism
- Metabolic disorders
- for problems in the pancreas area
- Constipation
Because it is a wild herb that can also be eaten, chicory was used in the past for a spring he alth cure, among other things.
Important components of Chicory
In order to understand the importance of chicory both as a medicinal plant and in local cuisine, take a look at the list of some of the special ingredients of the non-poisonous plant, which is mainly found on roadsides, in fields and on river banks. and railway embankments can be found at. These are as follows:
- iron
- folic acid
- choline
- Bitter substances
- Zinc
- Vitamins B and C
- Selenium
- Inulin
- tannins/ -acid
- Potassium
- Inbytin
- Resin
- Petein
- Mannan
- Lacoulin
- sugar
- Essential Oil
- Potassium S alts
If you want to collect chicory for use as a medicinal plant or in the kitchen, which is possible outdoors without any problems, you should collect the herb from June to September. The flowers, on the other hand, are best collected from July to September, while the following collection time for chicory roots is ideal:
- March
- April
- October
- November
Legends and rumors - a very special plant
People have told many stories about the common chicory in the past. It was said of the plant, for example, that this growth would be a virgin who had been transformed into a growth. While the beloved of the virgin unfortunately had to lose his life in the war, the young woman simply did not want to accept this fate. For this reason, she became a chicory - with her beautiful blue eyes, she was able to wait for her loved one by the side of the road from then on, and unfortunately she is still waiting there today.
While the virgin is said to have expressly wished to be transformed into a chicory, there is another legend that describes this plant as a real lucky plant. Above all, the medicinal herb can help the hunter's luck and hisSignificantly improve accuracy. However, a certain ritual must be performed in order to achieve the desired effect. This ritual must take place on Saint Jacob's Day, i.e. July 25th. On this day, the hunters should dig up the Common Chicory with the help of a piece of gold from the ground. They should then take the rhizome and keep it with them from then on as a good luck charm.
Popular names for chicorys
Because it is a legendary plant, it is not surprising that Chicory is known by many common names. These include:
- Rabbit Milk
- Blue Thistle
- Water Warden
- Irenhart
- Dog Running
- Zigori
- Hartmann
- Rauher Heinrich
- Wild Endifi
- Zichori
- Gypsy Flower
- Beacon
- Coffee Herb
- Sun Wire
- Poor Sinner Flower
- Sunflower
Other special features of the chicory
But it's not just the legends surrounding the chicory that make the plant so special. Rather, the medicinal herb also shows a very special behavior that many observers are extremely fascinated by. While the flowers open in the early morning to shine in their full blue splendor, they finally close again in the early afternoon hours. This usually happens around 3:00 p.m., when the plant is “going to bed.” Cloudy weather can even cause the plant to close its flowers even earlier, hiding its full beauty from the viewer.
The chicory is not only visually appealing, but also this stubbornness of the plant makes it a real eye-catcher in a hobby garden. In addition, the chicory can even be processed into a tasty wild salad and has proven to be extremely bee-friendly.
In a way, the chicory can be seen as the archetype of well-known winter lettuce varieties such as radicchio, sugar loaf or chicory, as these plants are very closely related. This also applies to chicory and endive salad. Chicory can even be used as a substitute for spinach in sauces and soups. Since the leaves of the chicory sometimes taste quite bitter, it makes sense if they are soaked in water for several hours, as they then lose bitter substances, which has a positive effect on the taste.
If you dig up the chicory in late summer, you can then dry the plant and put it in the completely driedGrind condition to a coarse powder. This should then be roasted in a pan. Only then can the powder be brewed with hot water to prepare a tasty drink that some hobby gardeners may even remember from their grandmothers. Then there is also talk of so-called chicory coffee, a kind of local coffee for poor people.
About Chicory Growth
The chicory is best used in spacious open spaces, although it can also be used as a single bedding perennial. A planting distance of around 55 centimeters makes sense. This corresponds to a distribution of three to five plants on an area of one square meter. With its rosette-like growth, the common chicory can reach a height of around 60 to 100 centimeters. The width of the plant amounts to a good 50 to 60 centimeters. The simple flowers are usually light blue in color and have a radiating shape.
With a size of less than five centimetres, the flowers are also quite small. The flowering period of the chicory extends from July to September, so that the plant certainly does not belong to the group of early bloomers in your own garden. As already mentioned, the leaves resemble those of the dandelion. In autumn, the plant sheds the dull, coarse leaves as dark green foliage.
Which location does the chicory prefer?
This native wild perennial likes fresh to dry soil and should therefore be protected from waterlogging. In addition, the soil must be sufficiently rich in nutrients, rich in humus and loamy to sandy. Chicory also prefers sun when used outdoors as follows:
- in the bed
- in the herb garden
- outdoors
Even if chicory is actually a fair-weather plant, it adapts comparatively well to extreme conditions. The higher the nutrient content of the soil, the higher the chicory sprout. A slightly alkaline bed with a pH value of 6.5 to 7 appeals to the chicory. The long, strong roots of the perennial, hardy perennial then thrive there.
Find the right plant partner for the chicory
The chicory does very well in a bed with a mixture of medium-tall and tall perennials. Planting partners who prefer a similar location to the medicinal plant are most recommended. This is the case, for example, with these plants:
- St. John's wort (yellow)
- Origanum (pink)
- wild carrot (white)
- Scabiosis knapweed (purple)
- Mallows (pink)
If these plant partners are combined with each other, a magnificent variety of colors is ensured in your own garden.
Multiply the chicory and spread it in your own garden
Thanks to self-sowing, chicory spreads even more in your own garden than one or the other hobby gardener might like. Since chicory germs are so-called dark and warm germs, targeted sowing in your own garden is only recommended from April or May.
If the chicory is to be planted in the garden as a young plant, this is best done in spring. Perennial and wild plant nurseries in particular have specialized in offering chicory as young plants and as seeds. However, simply digging up chicory from the wild and planting it in your own garden is not recommended.
An organic complete fertilizer can be used specifically to ensure that the chicory thrives particularly well in the garden. But compost that has been mixed with sufficient horn shavings can also be used to fertilize the plant. The same applies even to horse manure if it should be available.