• flowers,  Plants

    Is it a weed?

    Thistle at Pineridge Natural Area

    Thistles are considered a weed, an invasive plant and for good reasons. They are in competition with crops and interfere with grazing in pastures, where dense growths of spiny vegetation suppress forage plants and repel grazing animals from eating either the thistle plants or neighbouring forage. Some species, although not intensely poisonous, do affect the health of animals that swallow more than small amounts of the material.Thistles provide nectar for butterflies, skippers, goldfinches, hummingbirds, and bumblebees. Pollinators seem to love them. (Wikipedia)

    I do find them to be a beautiful plant with a lovely flower. Yet I do not desire to have them in my yard or garden. I have a friend who farms in eastern Colorado and hates them with a passion, even angry at God for creating them, thinking God made a mistake. I think it’s beautiful in its role with nature.