“Die when I may, I want it said by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”(Abraham Lincoln)
It’s thistle season in Kentucky. They grow well here, rain or drought. Actually they grow a little thicker when there’s a dry spell. That’s because when the rains are good, the good grasses crowd out their growing places. But that’s not to say that thistle seed don’t still find plenty of places to land, sprout and grow.
I’ve been told we have these invasive thistles all over everywhere because someone once thought they were lovely and planted them in a flower garden. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but once in South Carolina, I did see just this thistle obviously planted in a flower garden.
I looked on the internet and think these thistles are commonly called milk thistles. 
Then to my surprise, they are obviously good for something other than feeding birds and making butterflies and bees happy. Birds do love thistle seeds, especially goldfinches. And obviously from the number of butterflies fluttering between the blooms in the fence rows of our hay fields, so do they. Oh yes, what are they good for you may be wondering. Internet sites say they are good for the liver and gallbladder and numerous other health needs. A supplement is made from the thistle seeds and leaves.
My dad would never believe it. The thistles always make me think of him since he waged war on thistles on the farm while he was alive. He hated thistles. These thistles in particular. He must have chopped down hundreds of them, maybe thousands. Most years that just seemed to encourage them to come back thicker the next summer. Perhaps if we had made tea of them instead (tea made from the thistles is one way to take the supplement), he might have lived longer. The internet sites did make it sound like a miracle working supplement. If I ever have liver problems, I might just give it a try.
But miracle drug, pesky weed, butterfly and bee nectar, whichever, there always seem to be plenty of thistle blooms to admire. And with a butterfly sitting atop them or a goldfinch snatching some of their seeds, they are something to admire.
Isn’t that the way of it? Good and bad to most everything and how we look at it, our attitude toward whatever it is can make the difference. But I’m still not crazy about thistles. Except for the way they feed those butterflies and goldfinches that brighten up the world.
How about you? Do you see thistles or flowers?
As always, thanks for reading.