• Saturday-What'sUP August 23 - 09:08 am

Donna MacIntosh said these thistle plants are growing up the road from her place in Baraga. They are quite beautiful in the flowering stage with their purple head and if you let them get to the seed stage where the wind can take and blow the fuzzy stuff around, they'll regenerate for the following year.

They are a weed and can become a nuisance as they multiply, since they're quite picky and can poke and scratch you easily. The flower provides sweet nectar for butterflies and goldfinches, so they are useful, too. So I guess it depends which side of the plant you're on, whether you classify it as something to weed out, or something to let grow. Either way, these are some interesting shots of them here today!

looks like a flower made from cornstalks

Those are all over our property, and you're right, the blooms are pretty but what a mess otherwise.

Very cool. Looks prickly!

I haven't much to contribute about thistles, so "this'll" have to do (It certainly is UP/Lake Superior related!):

A few bits of Lake Superior facts & trivia I just came upon today:
1. Click → Lake Superior Facts
2. Click → The Superior Shoal

I wasn't really aware of the Superior Shoal! (Maybe I just haven't been paying attention!)

I'll bet Cap'n Paul & Dr. Nat are familiar with it!

Color and clarity...perfect!

AND....they are gone. The Village must be brushing
the sides of the roads, getting ready for
winter...all up and down the road..the sides are cut
way back....AND, it opened up a few thimbleberry
plants, with ONE berry on it. I ate it.

"He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle."
I'm of the mind that there are more people in this country these days that don't know what thistle down is than people that do know what it is.

Some weeds can be attractive.

Even the weeds around here a beautiful in their own
way.Great photos!

Clicked on the Superior Shoal.....didn't know about that.....what amazed me the most was that I had wrongly assumed that location was likely one of the deepest regions of the lake. Apparently not! Maybe the Fitz bumped there on their tragic way east....guess we'll never know for sure. Thanks for that link.

Right you are, Mr. Nash!

I have known of the Shoal for quite some time. It is a popular fishing spot if one is brave enough to venture out there. The Wiki page does a pretty good job of explaining what it is. The ridges they detail are part of the MidContinent Rift where it makes its curve back to the south. Concerning the deepest part of the Lake; that lies out from Munising.

This is an imported and invasive thistle and is
best destroyed. Native thistle does not take over
like this one does.