A Spiny Serendipity

It is definitely a thistle, an unidentified serendipity guest which appeared in the garden in early spring and made itself at home, elbowing cornflowers, Russell lupins and Oriental poppies out of its way with gusto and putting out green leaves and serious spines in abundance. The new resident in the garden is a fascinating entity to photograph, and I was vastly tickled at the way in which this morning's photos turned out when I uploaded them to the computer a few minutes ago.

While I have absolutely no idea what kind of thistle this is, brushing up against any part of this new inhabitant of the garden hurts. If it is a bull thistle, we are in for some interesting times this summer - I have seen specimens in the woods which were six feet tall, and they were armed and dangerous, but they were also truly beautiful in their rattling spines and spiky bright purple blooms.

My tribe are hoping that I will remove the new resident, but they think it is appropriate that such a prickly beast should come to live in the garden - they are raising occasional wry eyebrows in my direction and pointing reasonably to the garden's other armoured residents: various old roses, globe thistles, sea hollies and hawthorns. I, on the other hand, don't mind thorns and love the roses, thistles and hawthorns for their fragrance and their glorious blooms in season. Perhaps there are times when I am a trifle prickly myself, but certainly not often and seldom without a good reason. Methinks we all need a few thorns, spines and prickles from time to time to preserve our sanity and defend our precious tender skins.

Whatever kind of thistle this turns out to be, it has gorgeous blue-green foliage and amazing buds and bracts. It is going to be a real whopper, and I am very much looking forward to its flowering in a week or so. My thistle is a gift, and if I am fortunate, the blooms will be vivid purple.