Get It Growing: Canada Thistle — stubborn, spiky and hard to beat

Get It Growing: Canada Thistle — stubborn, spiky and hard to beat

Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) may sound friendly and indeed it has a lovely purple flower, but gardeners and landowners know better. This prickly perennial weed is a menace and is listed as a noxious weed in 43 states. Despite the name, it didn’t immigrate from Canada: it’s native to Europe and Asia, and it’s been invading North American soil for hundreds of years.