This one is another late bloomer. It hadn't begun to bloom until April and the majority of the blooms aren't appearing until the latter part of that month. It's another one that's really popular with the bugs, including a lot of beetles. I've seen a lot of beetles rooting around in the flower a lot and it seems kind of strange. Maybe it's just an easy flower to burrow into.
The flowers on this plant are fairly large and grow at the end of a very long mostly leafless stem which I've seem usually about 3 ft in length. Unfortunately, that means that this one is highly susceptible to the winds influence, which can make for difficult photography.
Here's a different species. This is the nodding thistle. It's hard to find and is actually an import.
