Ohhhhhhhhh, is that interesting!!! The seed is fresh, and I never dreamed anything could "hatch" from it ... what a wonderrrr-ful lesson! Thanks very much for your replies, I deeply appreciate it! Happy Spring and Summer! PS: I thought of the sadness in our hearts about Virginia Tech, but yet, these little tiny miracle birds come, to gladden our hearts a bit. Life is good ~ it seems!

Thank-you for your input! We have zebra swallowtails that go for the paw paws and spicebush swallowtails that go for the spicebushes and a scattering of the tiger swallowtails that seem ok w/the dogbane and another plant whose name escapes me but there were literally clouds of tigers when the thistle was everywhere....hoping to bring them back so I will get some Zizia seeds and try some C. discolor. We are overrun w/tulip poplars (my 8 yr old calls them tulip populars :) and I have a weakness for sassafras...though they don't seem to live very long around here. I will carry on the war against C. arvense...I shall not give in to tiger swallowtail temptation!

We got Canadian thistle under control glyphosate (studies that do not have friends of Monsanto involved or other conflicts of interest show it as 'carcinogenic' or 'probably carcinogenic' - it just wasn't worth the risk to my loved ones and neighbours). We moved into our house 5 years ago - 100' x 50', so the thistle seemed to take over our little yard. It was a nightmare. They grew in hardpan here, so pulling up WITH their roots is literally impossible without heavy equipment (the roots supposedly can grow up to 20' down). Here's what we tried: 1) On advice from experts we tried cutting them back when they were still young. They kept growing back, and more - probably from the roots getting stronger. 2) On advice from more experts we tried cutting them down just before flowering - the theory being that all their energy goes into flowering and they will eventually die this way. They kept growing back. Options 1 and 2 were very time-consuming and only a band-aid to the problem, so I tried number 3: 3) I did extensive research and found that the USDA did a study in 2002 and found that 20% vinegar (acetic acid) killed 80-100% of Canada thistle. So we sprayed them - young/small and old/large. I even tracked some that I sprayed to see if they regrew from the same roots, and those did not. For the really large ones (3-ish ft tall), I cut them back to 6" or less, then sprayed. Needed to hit them a few times because their root systems are probably very strong. I even sprayed a 3' tall one through the fence, in the neighbour's yard, and it worked - that one surprised me! For the first 2 years, we had to spray all summer because there were so many. Now we only need to spray weedlings occasionally - mostly in the hottest part of summer. Most of our neighbours still have a problem with them - they either don't spray with acetic vinegar or only spray after they have a lot of mature thistles. Canada thistle is now my least problematic weed. Still haven't gotten those dandelions under control, and oh, the horsetail weed! I know this is an old thread, but hope this helps anyone who finds it in search of help for this tenacious weed.

OOPS , I see that anti correct messed with my "nutans". It is a 5 acre field so I am going out there this morning and pull it and bag the flowers. I do not need a 5 acre head ache.. I have three kinds of invasive thistles on my field. I have a hard time telling the difference between the Bull thistle ( curium vulgare) and Cirsium texana. I am beginning to think I am pulling the native texana. HMMM. They are so similar.Well that one will be back since my neighbor does nothing to control it.