Elisabeth, the plant is smaller than bull thistle, so I think C. horridulum is correct. The purpose of the trip to Wilcox County, Alabama, was to visit an old, overgrown graveyard where some of my husband's ancestors, including his g-g-g-g-grandmother, are buried. I'm finishing up a book about them for my children and grandchildren. These people were Highland Scots, his g-g-g-g grandmother was born in North Knapdale. Since the thistle is the symbol of Scotland, I thought I'd use this picture in my book. The link you gave me for red thistles comes from York, South Carolina, on the border of N.C., close to where this family lived before coming to Alabama, and his g-g-g-g grandmother had a brother who lived and died in, you guessed it, Coosa County, AL, where the pictures in the other link were made. Maybe it's just a weird coincidence, or maybe this family brought the seeds from North Carolina to Alabama? Maybe they even brought them from Scotland to North Carolina? The Scotch thistle is a different variety, so I doubt they brought them from Scotland. Anyway, it was all very eerie, visiting a cemetery that had grown up to the point of being in the woods, and seeing the first red thistle I'd ever seen. If I get seeds and manage to grow some here, I'll definitely share them with you. Sherry

Which Las Pilitas? The Santa Margarita store may have limited hours, since it's mainly wholesale, but the Escondido store is open most days from 10 to 4. I think they're closed Tuesdays and, probably, major holidays. All that said, I like Tree of Life better. The sheer quality of their stock is superior, they have better availability, and they are more open to questions about propagation. In fact, the main reason I got into propagating my own plants is because Las Pilitas (which is an easy 25 minutes away) were always telling me they were going to finally have some stock "next month," but "next month" never arrived. I'm talking about easy-to-grow things like "Dara's Choice" Salvia. So I just started growing my own to get the plants I want.

I think the color is a soft caramel leaning towards the gold (or yellow) of caramel. So yes, it reads "yellow" to me, but in a very nice way. I used it in my master closet after a 32 second decision, because I was in a rush. My master is 12x18 (closet) and has one window. I wanted a soft color that would compliment the plaster in the bedroom and flow nicely with the wood (walnut) build ins that will be surrounding all four walls. CC really does work well for that, and looks gorgeous with chocolate. Outside of that room, the library is one level down and all the walls (except for the wood wall of hell...another post) are Valspar Cowslip 4 which is a yellow in the same tone (caramel color) but a bit deeper. The flow is great :) I'm not one for shocking changes of color in each room. I like the eye to visibly travel from room to room easily, especially through open doors. It sounds like the yellow isn't a good choice for your living room, since you're worried about too much yellow (is that possible?) heh heh Are you looking to go more neutral or do you have a complimentary color you'd like to shoot for? (Ie should we look to tan or green or blue or purple) :OP

Thanks, this is my first renovation and I think when I posted the question about it being dated I was just overwhelmed with all the choices I have been making. I'm doing two bathrooms, one kitchen, a dining room and a living room all at once! Its a lot. I lost sight of what I naturally like and want in my own home. Thanks to all for helping me with this! :-)