Salmon Idaho: Wild Thistle

That's just a touch ambiguous. Do you mean you grew up in Fairbanks?

We don't have thistle here Gurth. I've put it up as a closer look, we're comparing it to the globe thistle. I didn't know it was related to artichoke! I've thought of trying one here, but I don't want to introduce a new weed. This is a photo scanned in from a trip in 20205.

The photo is a lot clearer Gth. I am not sure if you would have a growing season long enough for the Artichoke. It is a Hardy Perennial and in the garden it would only spread if the flower heads were allowed to seed I think. After removing the head the stem just dies back and it pops up again the following spring. I keep forgetting to hit submit so you will not have had some of my comments.

lol. Haven't we all. :-) My season is very short, but that could mean these wouldn't reseed, that a plus. I wouldn't expect fruits so I'd go for this or the scotch thistle instead.

Having seen both, the artichoke is much more attractive and I do not think you would be able to dry the scotch thistle in the same way as the artichoke. I picked the artichoke when it was still quite a tight green ball and hung it upside down in a cool shed inside a paper bag in case it dropped seed. It was a nice surprise to find it had opened to a lovely blue thistle.

Ah, dilemma. I'll come up with something. :-)