This is Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus).and when I was a kid, as much as I loved this flower it made me so sad to see it blooming. For me it signaled that summer was half way over and school would be starting again much too soon. I didn't dislike school but hated being locked up indoors and losing the freedom to enjoy nature.
Chicory booms from mid-summer through early autumn. Blossoms usually open in the morning and close by afternoon or on cloudy days.It can be found across North America, Europe, and Asia, and grows along roadside and sunny grassy edges.
The roasted taproot of chicory is famous as a caffeine-free coffee substitute and its leaves include varieties grown by agriculturalists like radicchios and endives.
Radicchio is a cultivated variety selectively bred by agriculturalists for its tight heads and rich, reddish-purple leafy growth.
For endive, the pale, tightly packed white-and-yellow buds are produced by digging up chicory roots in autumn and "forcing" them to sprout in complete darkness
These fluffy, golf-ball-like spheres are an abnormal plant growth on a willow called a gall. It is created by the willow tree in response to a tiny insect.
The insect deposits an egg into the leaf and secretions from the insect interact with the plant's growth hormones.
The willow builds a dense, fuzzy, wool-like chamber around the larva. This harmless structure protects the plant, and provides a food source for the developing insect inside.
Milkweeds are a crucial host plant for Monarch butterflies.
Common milkweed
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