Seeking the Ceramic Bee and Thistle

Once there were bees & thistles (sold)

 

I love the thistle with its ruddy flowers
It cheers me on the waste in lonely hours
It cheers me in lone sunshine out of doors
When seeking solitude on rushy moores
It cheers me resting on the way-side stones
Where tears of morning glitter on the thorns
I love the thistle 'tis an ill used flower
And bees are singing round for many an hour. 

  ~John Clare (English poet b.1793  d.1864)

Herr loves to get to the thistles before they flower.  I understand the need for balance when it comes to allowing thorny plants around the yard.  Yet I love the tenacity of the thistle flower.  I watch the bees get drunk on its nectar.  It is quite a sight.  So we reached a compromise, Herr and I.  One small thistle plant was allowed to grow and flower. All by itself it grew and it was sight to behold.  Herr carefully cut it down just before the blossoms died.  Then all the bees went somewhere else.