Here is again the naughty word: Thistle. It will scare away all clients for everyone thinks of the weeds among the thistles and not of the beauties. It`s not difficult to control thistles if you never allow them to go to seed (simply cut the flowers and on put them in a vase), for the ones we offer do not develope runners. The plant develops two kinds of leafs: lanceolate one at the base and deply devided ones above. The Melancholy Thistle was once used as a remedy for melancholy. According to one author of the 17th century it `makes a man as merry as a cricket`. The plant is a rare inhabitant of moist meadows. It bears nice violet flowers in July and August. If well fed it can grow to the size of a man, but usualy it remains much smaller in garden. Until recently it was also known under the synonym Cirsium helenioides.