Photo Essay: The Life of a Beautiful Thistle Flower
I haven’t done a photo essay on this blog before, but I’ve had this one on my mind for the past two years, so it’s about time I got around to doing it! The purple thistle (Cirsium horridulum) is a rough looking, spiky plant, but every spring it produces some beautifully colorful flowers that are not only so pretty to look at, but they are also a great source of nutrients for the springtime pollinators. Since this is a photo essay, I’m going to let the images speak for themselves. Here’s the life of a thistle flower:
![A flower bud has appeared on the thistle plant.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/28D86049-CC0F-4EAB-9A8B-1163AA78D2E8.jpeg?resize=533%2C488&ssl=1)
![The thistle bud has begun to open.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/68E1D51E-BC82-4B78-BD2D-398522D5ED34.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1)
![The thistle flower is beginning to bloom.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/D9DCDED5-B1EA-4738-B8B1-A8F4ED53570F.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1)
![The outer parts of the thistle flower are fully open, but the center is a bit behind.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/81BD1F78-F5BE-42AC-B2AD-99E22C0174CC.jpeg?resize=852%2C1024&ssl=1)
![The thistle flower is in full bloom when it is most attractive.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/90A918D5-512A-44F6-829A-628B0DF82E12.jpeg?resize=430%2C571&ssl=1)
![The thistle flower is in full bloom and brightly colorful.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DB39E073-9530-42CF-B192-730B28FF48EE.jpeg?resize=537%2C457&ssl=1)
![The thistle flower has lost most of it’s beautiful color and is fading.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/7C1C23F5-4A8E-4A33-9345-2375CC11F5AE.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1)
![The thistle flower has completely gone to seed.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/387DA50C-31E9-4333-900F-60DCE7CEA482.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![The thistle flower has lost most of it’s seeds, but a few stragglers remain.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/8687D2F0-71BB-4FEC-ADD5-0E64F7E6B8BA.jpeg?resize=919%2C1024&ssl=1)
![The thistle flower is completely dead at this point.](https://i0.wp.com/whatnext10.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/B8BF7080-F492-4465-B8D8-427683B1873E.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
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