Felix Italian Dandelion is an open-pollinated chicory cultivar bred for uniform growth and reliable performance in cool-season gardens across zones 3-10. This leafy green delivers tender, harvestable leaves in just 35 days, making it one of the fastest crops you can grow. Unlike wild dandelions, Felix produces compact, bushy plants with consistent leaf quality and excellent color. You'll space plants just 6 inches apart in rows 18 inches wide, making it efficient for both small gardens and market growers. Hardy down to zone 3, it thrives in spring and fall when temperatures dip, rewarding patient gardeners with multiple harvests from a single planting.
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3-10
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Low
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Felix grows with remarkable uniformity, a trait that separates it from variable wild or heirloom dandelion populations. The compact, bushy habit means you can pack more plants into tight spaces without sacrificing leaf quality. It's genuinely frost-hardy and performs best in cool weather, so spring and fall plantings will outshine summer sowings. The real advantage lies in its rapid turnaround: 35 days from seed to harvestable leaves, with the ability to cut-and-come-again for multiple yields from the same plants.
Felix Italian Dandelion leaves are harvested young and tender for salads and cooking. The source materials recommend cutting leaves when they reach 3 to 6 inches in length, at which point they're mild enough for raw consumption in mixed greens. As plants regrow, you can harvest again within 5 to 14 days, making it a productive cut-and-come-again crop for the kitchen. The leaves also work well in sautés, soups, and traditional Italian preparations where dandelion greens are valued for their slight bitterness and nutritional density.
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Sow seeds directly into the garden in early spring, 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost, or in late summer for a fall harvest. Scatter seeds thinly where you want them to grow, press gently into contact with moist soil, and keep the seedbed consistently moist until germination, which occurs within 7 to 10 days at temperatures between 55 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Begin harvesting when leaves reach 3 to 6 inches in length, using a sharp knife to cut about an inch above the soil and above the basal plate. This cutting technique allows the plant to regenerate from the base for subsequent harvests. Cut again when plants regrow to desired size, typically 5 to 14 days after the previous harvest depending on temperature and growing conditions. Continue harvesting as long as the plant produces new growth; Felix's compact habit supports multiple rounds of cutting before productivity declines.
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