Giant thistle dazzles passers-by

by Annie Bird

There it was growing and blooming in front of the barn at Gertridge Farm for all to see. It was indeed an eye-catching wonder to folks who travelled the White Rock Road.

“Some thought it was a cactus,” said Tammy Reading, noting that it is actually a Scottish thistle. Her interest in the captivating plant was aroused some time ago when she happened to see one “at the far end of Kings County.” A friend on Gaspereau Mountain had originally purchased a plant from a nursery. Tammy bought one cultivated plant from her when it was just a seedling. She pointed out that this is the second year for the Scottish wonder.

“A biennial, the first year it is silvery-white foliage, it does not bloom” she said, “but the next year it grows bigger,” spreading her arms toward the towering thistle with it sharp prickles. As for taking care of it, “I did not do anything,” she acknowledged, “I didn’t even water it; it just grew naturally on its own!” Her garden spot is fertilized with cow manure when the barn is cleaned out. “Maybe that has something to do with it,” she laughed.

While checking the computer to make sure it is truly a Scottish thistle, Tammy learned that they could grow as high as 10 feet. The one growing in her flowerbed is eight feet high. It has a thick woody trunk with sharp prickly stems that branch out .

The flowers are a gorgeous shade of dark pink lavender. Neighbour Sherry Coldwell said, “it was beautiful when in full blossom, spread out against the century old barn like that.” Now that the blossoms are nearly gone and seeds are forming in their place Tammy said.

She prepared cut it down and dispose of it. Her partner, Alan Gertridge, is concerned some of the seeds might find their way into the hay fields.

And rightly so, because the thistle is very good at spreading it’s seeds.

According to Scottish lore, the thistle became the emblem of Scotland because it saved the Scots when they were about to be invaded by the Vikings. As the tale goes, the invaders came ashore quietly by dark of night and took their boots off so as to surprise the sleeping Scots.

But it was the invaders who were surprised when they landed unshod feet in a patch of thistle growing between them and their intended victims.

Fortunately for everyone who stopped by Gertridge Farm to admire the awesome towering thistle with its lovely blooms, they did not have to feel its prickles. If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, as the old saying goes, the prickles are also to be admired.