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: