This plant is kind of ugly for sure, but I am thinking one day it may be a beauty, being weed or flower, I love the foliage and will certainly keep it here, regardless of its nature. Cleared a small area on my acreage and this plant popped up from somewhere. It may be a weed, definitely not an annual, probably a perennial plant of some sort. It did not flower this year. There are several in its immediate vicinity, so I ponder it may be seeds that were spread from a pod by a bird (the towhees are famous for scratching like chickens and spreading stuff here). If it is a weed, it shall live here, if a flower it will be given the same grace as well, but maybe a little more care taken to promote bloom hopefully next year. The picture was taken about August 1 of this year. Cindi
they do eventually produce great looking prickly flowers that many of the parasitic wasps flock too, but they also are very invasive and spread like..well.. for a better name.. wild flowers! they dry really nice too. if it is the same as mine the flower stems are blue. and look great up against the bright red of the cocosmia "lucifer" have fun with it cause they are a heck of a pull to et out seeign as they have great long tap roots, which by the way make them very drought tollerant!! free plants that survive dry spells are always welcom in my yard!! turrah noni
Ah yes!!! Sea holly for sure. I did sow that seed this spring, but was too anxious to read some instruction first on culture. The package indicated that it should be keep cold (can't remember if they said "frozen") for a couple of weeks. So I never honestly expected it to germinate, as the temps were pretty warm at the time of sowing. I sowed many different plants to provide extra nourishment for my apiary and evidently the bees love thistles!!! This one is a cousin? to wild thistle? this is a comment/question. Anyways, this sea holly can become as prolific as it desires, I welcome plants that self-seed and carry on their progeny at my place. I have a pretty one called "Echinops ritro", Globe Thistle, is a beautiful plant for dried flowers, I have had several for many years, so pretty. Cindi
ya, i have one that has verigated leaves and is much shorter and doesn't spread quite as prolificly as the taller blue ones. greatplant~! especially for somewhere dry .. like under a douglas fir!(pseudo-thuja menzesii) i love the milk thistle too.. silybum(probably cause of the latin name!! silly bum~!!) they don't self seed as well. have to start over next year. great for the bird come winter!