Can plants "sense" things?

The correct answer is "Of course!"  But one could quibble over the meaning of "sense."  On the other hand, if I had used the word "think" there would be even more to quibble about.  So, to explain the aboce photo, I'll fall back on the first rule of science: Observe.  If a series of observations warrant it, the next step might be "form a hypothesis."
I've been observing Chicory, off and on, all summer for years.  Without taking carefully detailed notes, I can say that most of the time I have seen this plant at roadsides growing at least 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall before producing any blossoms.  That's what the plant in the above photo did by the end of June.  It was around 3' tall and produced only one or two blossoms when the neighborhood weed eater came by.  For a 100-foot strip of land next to the driveway, what was shaved near to the ground was one Chicory, one Mountain Pink, and hundreds of Hawkweed.  A couple of weeks later, the Hawkweed came back and looked similar to the original crop.  The Pink never came back.
There were several more cycles of weed eating and regrowth until this past week when the original Chicory returned and at less than a foot tall has produced 4 blossoms so far.  The latest crop of Hawkweeds look about the same, but are going to seed quicker than the original crop did.
So, did the Chicory sense "the end is near" and "decide" to produce flowers and the subsequent seeds before winter weather settled in?  All I'm sure about is the current status of the plant is more photogenic than the original, plus, as always, it reminds of the the great Chicory coffee I used to enjoy while attending college in New Orleans.