THANK YOU

[unclejoe]

To all of our Canadian friends here. Thank you for the beautiful thistle. It is a very hardy plant with a lovely flower. However, I have decided that it doesn't quite fit in with my gardening goals for this year. Since I really hate to waste a good thriving plant, I would like to do the neighborly thing and give it to someone that can fit it in with their landscaping designs.
So, if one (or more) of you would post your address I will happily return it with my sincere thanks. Not looking for a refund, just a new home for a plant that I'm sure will provide you with many hours of gardening fun.

Sincerly,

UncleJoe

 

[patandchickens]

It's not actually from Canada, though. It's from the NE Mediterranean area. Arrived as weed in the 1600s. Blame some long-dead guys.

Canadians don't like it either, I've got a vast amount of it that I'm slowly pushing back.

(Canada geese *are* from Canada (as well as from the US)... you can complain about *them*, but only if I get to complain about all the hot weather and too-much-rain and violent thunderstorms that the Ohio Valley sends up to us...)



Pat, also an American citizen

 

[vfem]

Ummm... I think I will have to pass.... the day I get rid of ALL my weeds and have a perfectly manicured, weed free lawn... I'll give ya a call.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Well, hey, I actually like thistles.

I think they are cool looking for one, but I have also discovered that they attract goldfinches like you wouldn't believe (isn't thistle seed the only seed used in goldfinch feeders?). So thistles are a respected weed on my property . . . but that doesn't mean I am looking to expand my thistle collection.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know how true it is but I remember a story where Farmer A sued Farmer B because Farmer B did not control his thistles and the seeds infested Farmer A's pastureland. I do remember hours in the heat of summer patrolling pastureland with a mattock to take out thistles, roots and all, before they bloomed. They create an island that restricts cattle grazing. I still destroy any I see on my property.

Our goldfinches love our dandelions. These I do let go to seed much of the time.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Well, I guess I'm lucky that my neighbor keeps her thistles around for the goldfinches too. The other neighbors don't keep animals or gardens so I don't think they actually care. Well, except for the ones who are into manicured lawns and probably have a fit about all the dandelions I let go in my field.

 

[patandchickens]

I don't know how true it is but I remember a story where Farmer A sued Farmer B because Farmer B did not control his thistles and the seeds infested Farmer A's pastureland.

Oh, I'm sure it's true, that's why there are noxious weed laws in most places that if reported and the property owner refuses to do anything about it themselves, the state/province can come in and spray and hand the property owner the bill.

It may seem unfair but if you're a farmer it can make a considerable difference.

That's actually a (small) part of the reason I'm trying to get rid of the thistles in my unused back field -- I've already slightly pissed off one of the local rent-yer-field-to-farm families (simply by not wanting the land cultivated, it's really not good for much besides bobolinks and blue-eyed grass *anyhow*) and don't want a big 'kick me' sign hanging out there in the form of acres of thistle

I'm actually having more trouble with perennial sow thistle right now than the Canada thistle -- they're almost equally persistant but the sow thistle runs like crazy, and tiny shoots are very hard to deal with.

Pat

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Aren't there native, non-invasive, subalpine thistles . . . are they considered problematic? I have thought about introducing them to my property just so I'm not cultivating noxious weeds . . . although butterfly bush is a noxious weed here and I have a few of those too. :/

 

[patandchickens]

You'd have to consult your state's noxious weed list, it varies. Here in ON, it's mostly exotics (canada thistle, perennial sow thistle, etc) but some natives are on the noxious weed list too e.g. common milkweed.

Nobody's likely to enforce noxious weed laws in a) small garden-type patches, or b) suburban/urban areas where there ain't no farming anyhow. So it is not like MOST people need to worry about weed police

Pat

 

[DrakeMaiden]

That is the hope, anyway Pat! Really, I didn't think that native plants could be on noxious plant lists . . . do you mean native to the country but not the state maybe? Or is it the Ag depts that make the noxious plant lists?