Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum'

Today's the day ....................... for the order of the thistle

They're often considered a prickly problem, but from time immemorial, thistles have been a country-diary marker as constant as the first swallow or cuckoo.  There's an old rhyme that says - Cut thistles in May, they'll grow in a day; Cut them in June, that is too soon; Cut them in July, then they will die.  But if they're still around in August, the fluffy white down of the seeds will  float across the fields like river mist, spreading tens of thousands of thistle seeds with the wind, ready to grow wherever they land.

I willingly grow quite a few in my garden - knapweeds and cornflowers are close cousins of the thistle family - as are the magnificent globe artichokes.  I have a very soft spot for another globe thistle - my echinops that grows just outside the lounge window.  And as for the glorious Cirsium rivulare  shown above, no garden is complete without one.

I'd grow it for the colour alone ...........................