Chickory is an edible plant. In fact, it has been used as a coffee substitute for decades. I think the flower is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Before moving to St. Louis, I can't recall ever seeing such a plant before down south. 
Chickory can grow anywhere. It is a hardy plant and very tolerant of poor soils. In fact, this patch of Chickory flowers were growing out of asphalt from an old parking lot of a closed down factory in North St. Louis.src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl7u-gLVSai0wmEzFk7NfQ1EOQ-D3T75BERfX5ZLkqJV6THySYESOaitHjH6rNv5T6FV1pwdamr0PDKsEZgvd8OoJc7H3rGSx4588CeiN-_-TlUp5GZY8nHMZCCZU98hBxJGcZrzy_4iI/s400/SDC12066.JPG" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand">
