Purple Haze in the USA

What do these purple thistles have to do with the USA? Well, they are growing on land owned by the USA ... in Runnymede England.

To explain further, on behalf of the people of Britain, Queen Elizabeth II presented one acre of English land to America in tribute to their 35th president, John F Kennedy, who was assinated on 22 November 1963. A memorial, designed by Sir Geoffrey A. Jellicoe CBE, has been built on the site which takes its theme from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, using STEPS, STONE and SEATS as analogies for LIFE, DEATH and SPIRIT.

The land surrounding the memorial has been left to grow naturally (though carefully managed one suspects), and the thistles were found in a wild meadow full of bees, butterfiles and other such wildlife - a haven just a few miles as the crow flies from Heathrow airport.