Call me crazy, but I love thistles. 
The season is past now…anywhere from July through August depending on your latitude. The flowers are full and succulent. Just taste one sometime. Think artichoke. Really.
I once had a horse that could extend its lips to gently pluck the ripe flower from its perch without ever touching a thorn.
Thistle leaves make excellent food for horses and cattle.
Its prickly exterior, like a knight in shining armor, and its radiant purple top: Godiva, the thistle seems to be the embodiment of romance. Fitting, I think, that it is the ancient Celtic symbol of nobility and the national flower of Scotland, that country of hearty, noble souls who stood up to England.
Its Latin term is carduus and it is thought that the french derived the name, chardonnay, 
from the same.
Who knew?