Onopordum Algeriense

Onopordum algeriense is a commanding North African cotton thistle with a broad rosette of deeply cut, sharply spined leaves covered in pale woolly hairs. In its flowering season, stout winged stems rise above the silver foliage and carry large purple thistle heads surrounded by formidable bracts. The architectural outline is dramatic in dry or Mediterranean-style planting, while the blooms supply nectar to bees and other insects. Best treated as a biennial in cultivation, it needs space, full sun and lean soil and should be positioned away from paths because of its spines.