Cirsium rivulare Atropurpureum - Plume Thistle

River or brook thistle (<a href="https://en.promessedefleurs.eu/perennials/perennials-by-variety/ornamental-thistles/cirsium-rivulare-atropurpureum-plume-thistle.html"><strong>Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum'</strong></a>) and field thistle <strong>Cirsium arvense</strong>, resembling <a href="https://en.promessedefleurs.eu/perennials/perennials-by-variety/ornamental-thistles.html"><strong>thistles</strong></a> or knapweeds, are familiar sights in countryside. They combine charm of wild plants with colourful, sometimes spectacular flowering, as in aptly named <a href="https://en.promessedefleurs.eu/perennials/perennials-by-variety/ornamental-thistles/cirsium-japonicum-rose-beauty-japanese-thistl.html"><strong>Cirsium japonicum Rose Beauty</strong></a>, which bears large, splendid pompom inflorescences of vivid magenta-pink. <strong>Cirsium</strong>, or <strong>cirses</strong>, are herbaceous <strong>plants, biennial or perennial,</strong> that gardeners rarely think to plant because of reputation of field thistle for being very invasive. The latter colonises fallow land, tracks and grazed meadows. <strong>The two species offered for gardens,</strong> <strong>rivulare and japonicum, do not present this problem and are perennial. Their angular, architectural stems rise to over 1 metre in height, bearing delicate, varied pompom</strong> heads <strong>in pink, purple or mauve</strong> that provide superb contrasts among culms of grasses or set against a smoke tree, for example. <strong>Their flowering</strong> lasts for several weeks <strong>between May and October</strong>. Flowering stems of Cirsium are well suited to making fresh or dried bouquets. Picking them prevents production of an excessive quantity of seeds that hinders repeat flowering late in season. Even though species offered for garden (rivulare, japonicum) are not invasive, <strong>it is preferable to cut off dried inflorescences</strong> unless they attract local songbirds, in which case, leave birds to enjoy them. These are <strong>plants very easy to grow but only in open ground</strong>, quite short-lived, that require dividing clump every 3 years to maintain culture. Cirsium belong to family of <a href="https://en.promessedefleurs.eu/perennials/perennials-by-variety/leucanthemum-marguerite.html">Daisies</a> but have a much lighter, more transparent silhouette that gives a country or contemporary touch depending on garden style. In any case, they are undemanding <strong>plants</strong>, rarely troubled by disease and that attract a host of pollinators. Wild species <em>Cirsium eriophorum</em>, or wooly thistle, common notably in Aveyron and the Alps but present on continental areas from south of England to Spain, has likely caught your eye if you encountered it. It produces large involucres of spherical bracts that look as if woven by spiders, crowned with purplish heads, reaching up to 1.50 m in height in July–August. [caption id="attachment_66396" align="aligncenter" width="1172"]<a href="https://www.promessedefleurs.com/blogwp/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cirsium2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-66396 size-full" src="https://www.promessedefleurs.com/blogwp/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cirsium2.jpg" alt="thistle" width="1172" height="780" /></a> Superb Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum'[/caption]