Thistledown

I liked the fact that I managed to get an "intact" bull thistle in the background, which is how this fluffy one started out. After the purple bloom it goes to what I always think of as the "bad hair" stage, where the spent bloom starts to open & the dried petals surround the emerging center "fluff"--then comes the thistledown stage where the small seeds start to emerge & the down carries them off to new places. Just as pretty and effective as the milkweed seeds of the other day!
Thank you all so much for all the lovely comments on my fall leaves! We were gone until late last night & tonight we have plans as well, so I'll catch up tomorrow! :))