The Aliens Have Landed

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Stemless Thistle (Onopordum acaulon), hands down the most memorable plant of our trip to Denver.

I REALLY want to grow this one in my own garden and am now looking for some seeds to purchase.* I have a soft spot for thistles, so much so that I won’t pull the wild growing ones when they are seedlings, only to suffer the consequences later.

* Some places have declared this plant an invasive pest. Worth looking into before adding it to your garden.

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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7 thoughts on “The Aliens Have Landed”

  1. I love thistles, too, and this picture is a COOL-looking one! I just bought a home two months ago, and I was totally blessed when thistle came up in my yard!

  3. Ah thistles…. considered a noxious weed, but amazingly beautiful. After passing a ditch of them on a bike ride two weeks ago I wondered aloud what the biological reason is for them to be so amazingly beautiful? Surely, this is about perpetuation of the species? There must be some bio-evolutionary fact I’m missing about them, because the seedheads are brilliant!

  4. I was in Denver two weeks ago on our way to California, when we happened to stumble upon the Denver Botanic Garden while walking around to kill some time. I took over 200 pics and left on cloud 9 :) So different from the snowy white Denver I saw at New Years when it was 4 degrees F! Glad you enjoyed your trip too.

  5. as in Denver two weeks ago on our way to California, when we happened to stumble upon the Denver Botanic Garden while walking around to kill some time. I took over 200 pics and left on cloud 9 :) So different from the snowy white Denver I saw at New Years when it was 4 degrees F! Glad you enjoyed your t

  7. Please please do NOT plant these in your yard. these have ruined our yard and garden. There is no turning back on these. they have fine thorns that have dug into my carpet and my cats fur making them miserable.
    They really are pretty when you see a mature plant by the side of the road. Please just take a photo to enjoy them!

    Yes I live just outside of Denver.

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