Apr 292014
Today on my walk along Piney Woods Church Road, I encounter a purple bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) just coming into bloom, nestled in a grassy ditch, as if trying to hide from passersby. I expect it will not last long there; the resident and dear friend who owns that property is not at all fond of them, because the seeds disperse widely and readily, and invariably the plant crops up in his horse pastures. But for this moment, this Eurasian flower adds a lovely splash of color to an otherwise rather barren spot of ground, and I pause to enjoy its prickly form against the surrounding grasses, roadway, and sky.
