Is this Thistle?

If it is, it explains why I have so many Goldfinches. John

i'd say yup

Agreed; mostly like bull thistle. See here: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/32173/index.html

Is there anyplace you can buy this seed or do you just have to dig it up?

I know it's considered an invasive weed but I like it and I love goldfinches.

Maureen

I dug one up from a roadside once, but it didn't survive. So be careful. I felt so bad that it died.

esh we grow it by the tons! constantly ripping it out lol one man's treasure....

Might be Musk Thistle. Major difference between the two is that Bull Thistle starts out as a rosette. Bull Thistle also has spines on the leaves that aren't present on Musk Thistle.

mlm, are you sure you want one of these? The favorite diet of a Goldfinch is actually native grass seeds and tree seeds such as birch and elm. They regurgitate those to feed to their young. They definitely love thistle seed but have you ever had a close encounter with a Canada Bull Thistle? Ouch ouch and triple ouch.

I'm not so sure. Since I've done more reading about them I'd prefer a native thistle if any. I do love the purple color of this one and I see it all the time by the roadside here and yes, it does look pretty painful.

If you have a web site reference or info on the native grass seeds for gold finches I'd appreciate it! :-)

Maureen

Hey Maureen, They're painful allrightie! I've had to use rose gloves up to my elbows and hot dog tongs to try to get some out. Some of the native thistles are almost as "weedy" as the introduced species. There are some native thistles that are rare, threatened, or endangered in some areas but deemed noxious in other areas. You may have to contact a research station in your State to get custom information on which native thistles might be deemed desirable for you. Keep checking this out thoroughly before you do anything is about all I can say. I went "native" in the thistle department and am finding the native thistles to be equally as problematic as the exotics. I think I've got them under control here since I introduced them but I'm not sure. Probably one of my more embarrassing self inflicted on-site boo boos. I chose poorly. I paid dearly.

Regarding the goldfinches and their preferred diet, I think I better send you to the ListServe to get that type of specific information. If you are interested, please try starting here-
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/MOBD.html
Other than that, looks as if Alder is in the line up of tree seed that the Goldfinches prefer in addition to the Birch and Elm which I already knew about.

You might also want to start a search of grasses native to Missouri and then do specific searches to see if you can figure out who eats what.

Have fun, I love searches like this. I'm working on one for myself for moths.

They also love the seeds from the purple coneflower. I dead head mine but my neighbor lets her's go to seed. Goldfinch are out there every morning. Ilove watching them and they have such a pretty, happy song!

I don't deadhead my Echinacea for that reason. They also like my anse hyssop.
I found some American Basketflower (Centaurea americana) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1626/index.html that I might try.

I don't think you would be too happy with yourself in 5 years if you actually introduced any thistle - native or not - into your garden on purpose. Really, honey, that's one plant you really don't need.

I have 8 echinacea plants grouped together that are all going to seed. I don't feed the goldfinches from a birdfeeder at all, but there sure are plenty of the pretty little things around ;) They also seem to perch on my Liatris a good bit once it goes to seed, too.

The echinacea is purple, too, and a good deal less of a headache to keep in bounds than that nasty thistle :) Let the goldfinchies munch on those instead :)

Jacci

This message was edited Aug 26, 2006 10:49 PM

trust me you don't want it !

Native thistle is that bad huh? Not too likely I'll be getting any at this point anyway but is sure looks pretty ;-)

Her is a closeup of the bloom.

I'm afraid you probably wouldn't even want the native thistles. Been there done that.

Here's a nice close-up of it's wonderful attributes:


It had filled a whole valley (the birds were gorging on it but they sure don't catch all the seeds). Sow thistle is bad enough........this one is beyond nasty. Love seeing it in bloom tho (nowhere near my yard/veggie patch however ;).



This message was edited Aug 28, 2006 11:44 PM

I would tend to agree that the echinacea's attract goldfinches. I leave the seed heads out all winter, and by spring they are picked fairly clean.

I've also noticed that the goldfinches really like silphium species.
I have both rosin weed and cupplant and finches will cling to those plants and eat the seed heads clean. I didn't get any seed collected from the silphium last year because the gold finches were eating it as fast as it matured.

Just offering some great finch suggestions, besides thistle....


This message was edited Aug 29, 2006 10:51 AM

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into those instead, even though those thistles are beautiful! I have seen silphium growing wild here and wondered what it was, I'm definately looking into it.

Maureen

Also, just thought I'd mention that the "thistle seed" that most folks put out for goldfinches isn't thistle at all. It's called Nyger seed, and it won't germinate in climates like mine. So, although I'm sure the finchies like the thistle seed, that's usually not what attracts them to feeders. Take care, y'all :)

I actually had the goldfinches eating seeds off of many of my garden plants that I didn't cut back - surprising me. What the goldfinches and other finches didn't eat, the cardinals followed.

Personally, in the dead of winter, I liked seeing the dead stems rise above the snow to remind me that there was life out there just waiting for spring. Sometimes it was even "pretty".
Talk to your neighbors about not deadheading and perhaps you will have more of these wonderful songbirds.

Sedum looks gorgeous with snow on it :) I agree.

Highly second Silphium spp (they adore perfoliatum - Cupplant) but I also have a native thistle (Cirsium discolor) , Old Field Thistle, which they use for nesting purposes. They eat the seeds also but use the "fluff" part of the seeds for nests.

I've not had invasion problems w/the C. discolor. It's a biennial (much more easily controlled) & only spreads thru seeds, not roots. First year it's a rosette, 2nd years blooms, seeds & dies. You can distinguish the "good" thistle from the "bad" thistle by checking the underside of the leaves. Discolor has a pale underside of the leaf due to the teeny short hairs.

There is another native (at least in my area) thistle but it is extremely rare & much more difficult to grow. I've only seen Hill's Thistle once (plant rescue) & Cirsium hillii ended up being transplanted to a protected & more suitable location.

I've only seen Hill's Thistle once myself. I wish I had my camera with me at the time. Yes, the birds do like the fluff.

Plantlust, Welcome to our forums.