Cirsium Heterophyllum

The melancholy thistle is a gentle and highly ornamental native perennial, lacking the formidable armour associated with many thistles. Upright woolly stems carry large, rounded purple-pink flower heads above lance-shaped green leaves with softly toothed margins and striking white-felted undersides. The blooms are excellent for bees and butterflies and also make useful cut flowers. Its evocative common name comes from an old belief that the plant could relieve melancholy, although today it is valued chiefly for wildlife and garden display. It thrives in moist meadows, open woodland and informal borders.