Spears

Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)

Ever since we moved to this property, we've been wrestling with stubbornly persistent stands of thistles in various corners of the garden. A few thistle plants are lovely. Hundreds, popping up in all the flower beds, and the pocket meadow (particularly the ones that sneak onto the mown paths to spike the unwary bare foot) are rather less appreciated. Most of the culprits are the tenacious, perennial Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense). But a few are the larger, considerably spikier, Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare). These big, richly coloured flowers sitting atop their spiny balls are probably the origin of the "Scottish thistle", a well-known symbol of our neighbours to the north. They're typically biennial, sending up a rosette of leaves the first year, and adding stems (up to a metre tall) and flowers in the second. They die after setting seed. However, they can set prodigious amounts of seed before they go: as many as 8400 per plant! Fortunately, thistles seeds are among the favourites of European Goldfinches, so we should get some help in thinning them out. We're also lucky in that the seeds are relatively short-lived; if they don't germinate within three years, very few remain viable. The very spiny capitula (the ball-like structure just below the purple petals), long, deeply-lobed leaves covered with plentiful spines, and a spiny stem (almost looking cobweb-covered), plus the rich, deep purple of the flowers, help to distinguish this thistle from the smaller, paler Creeping Thistle. Spear Thistles are widespread across the British Isles, mostly in disturbed habitats like roadsides and waste places. They're regular in agricultural areas too, and can become problematic in crop fields; they're considered invasive in Canada, the US and Australia, for instance. But these "weeds", which flower from July to October, supply nectar to a host of insects, including scores of hoverflies and butterflies. If we can keep them confined more or less to a corner or two of the garden, we'll be happy to tolerate them. But getting that control looks like it's going to take a while!

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