Today is a lovely thistle day, the first one of this year. The spines on this are so gorgeously coloured, they are perfect for your daily flower. I am having a few technical issues to deal with so the joy in an unusual bloom like this is a relief from the stress. I hope this helps de-stress you too, if you need that today. A Flower a Day #313 (NB while I make every effort to identify the flowers posted, I make no guarantee that the name is correct. It’s about the photograph, not the name.:-) )
To view the info and Flower a Day gallery…
The July Flower a Day Gallery with current content is below. Each day a new photo will be added. With today’s post there are now 313 to view on the full Flower a Day gallery.
A gallery of flowers shared on a daily basis to cheer myself and hopefully you, the viewer too, during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic period. Posts from July 2021
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A purple explosion, a spherical firework shot up from the ground, with a green trail, thistles hold a special place in my heart as I am half Scottish and the thistle is Scotland’s national flower. Although in the case of the Scottish thistle, the shape is less spherical and more like a tuft on top of a spiky body. So, this one is actually a member of the aster family and a species of the sunflower and is a gentler cousin of the Scottish one. It is gentler because it is non-invasive and with less thorny prickles. Nevertheless. I cherish its connection in honour of my Scottish grandparents. Thank you, Ellie, for triggering the memory.
Of course I knew of your Scottish ancestry and that the (true) thistle is the national flower of that country. But I had no idea that this is actually a species of sunflower and only related distantly (by marriage?) to the original one from the old country! Thanks for that information. I’ll see if I can find a true thistle for a future posting to celebrate your family roots, Janet.
Thanks Ellie that is an amazing flower. I used to have some till I had a brother-in-law to cut them down. They were beautiful and it came from my mom. Just a perfect circle and a lovely color good to cheer anybody up. Thanks again for sharing.
So sorry your brother-in-law cut yours down Linda. They are so pretty and unusual. I’m glad if this brought back memories of your mum.