Last fall, I ordered some chicory seeds online and planted them in my garden. I was disappointed this spring when none of them came up (unlike the heirloom garlic I also planted). But then … late in the summer … up came exactly one chicory plant!

Here it is, with its distinctive lavender-colored flower.

This the root, which is the part that you can dry, grind, and use as a substitute for coffee.

In my garden, and along the edge of the yard, we also got this thistle coming up. I had heard of yellow chicory, so I pulled it up too, hopefully.

A quick search told me it is either Common Sow Thistle (which can also be used as coffee substitute! Yay!) or Perennial Sow Thistle (which can contain dangerous levels of nitrates! Boo!). Unsure whether it would make good coffee or poison me, I threw the Sow Thistle away.