Scotch Thistle Seeds (Onopordum Acanthium)

Organic Scotch Thistle / Onopordum Acanthium

Add to this the lovely purple violet flowers and this makes a plant that attracts everyone to admire it. It makes a wonderful focal point plant and is very easy to grow. It needs sunlight and water but is happy on poor soil and due to the very nasty spines is not troubled by any animals. It's a biennial so to keep a display going it is necessary to plant every year but its well worth it. The flowers are loved by butterflies and bees and the goldfinches love the seeds.

Mostly the Scotch thistle acts as a biennial. However in some case it will flower in one year and act as an annual. In the first year the plant produces a flattened rosette of silvery leaves that can reach two feet long and a foot wide. These are broadly elliptic, coarsely lobed, sharply spined and covered with silver gray hairs that give the leaves a velvety appearance. During this first year the plant is producing a large fleshy tap root. The leaves will overwinter giving an interesting silvery appearance.

In the second year it puts up a central stem triangular stem that is silver gray in color and again covered with hairs and spines. The leaves are attached alternately on the stem without a stalks and form leaf wings that extend down the stem. The stalk becomes very branched with each branch ending in a solitary flower.

These can be up to two inches across with spiny tipped bracts. The flowers are purple to violet in color and appear from July through September. Flower stalks can reach 8 feet in height in some conditions they can go as high as 10 feet. Flowers are attractive to butterflies and bees. The large seeds are a favorite of goldfinches.
 

Scotch thistles can be sown in situ, they germinate well and can be easily grown. Studies have suggested that they can germinate at any time of the year but do need a light/dark cycle of certain day lengths to do well. IF the day is long enough sometimes seeds sprouted in early spring will flower the first year and act as an annual.

If planting directly outside make sure there is plenty of space between seedlings. At least 24-30 inches. If planting indoors start seeds at least 30 days before last frost date, earlier is better to give them a good start. Use individual pots and grow plant to a small rosette of leaves before transplanting out. Harden off plants in the pots before planting out and ensure that the whole root ball is planted directly in a large enough hole. Try to disturb the roots as little as possible. We grow all our thistles from transplants and find this method works very well.

If you want to keep a display of thistles you will need to seed every year to ensure that you have plants in the rosette stage and the flowering stage each year. These plants do well in the same spot year after year. IF they start to get a little smaller add a little mulch in the fall around the plants and they will grow taller.
 

Surprise! These things are edible. The young stems were cooked like asparagus or rhubarb after the spines had been removed. The flowers buds can be used as a globe artichoke substitute although they are much smaller and very fiddly to work with.
 

The seeds have a very high oil content about 25%. This was used by the ancient Scottish people as lamp oil but it is also edible. The stem hairs were often collected to stuff pillows.
 

The flowering plant is used in some heart medications and there is some suggestions that the juice of the plant is effective in treating both cancers and ulcers.

Other Names: Cotton Thistle, Scottish Thistle, Scotch Cottonthistle