[ferreter51]

Is it just in my garden or are there a lot of thistles this year.  This is my second season in this garden.  I dug out beds early last year but still had lots of weeds to deal with.  Not many thistles in the mix then, though.    Last autumn I treated all the weeds to Roundup, then, after an interval I dug in manure or compost and covered the newly raised beds with black polythene.  I have very few other weeds, but thistles are there in huge numbers.  I might add that the beds which got the compost did not get the manure and vice-versa, so they were probably not imported.

Is anyone else seeing thistles in great numbers?

[arugula]

I haven't seen any yet this year....  With the prolonged cold they may have survived where others have failed and are flourishing with their increased elbow-room.

[Springlands]

Not many thistles but lots and lots of dandelions. Keep on having to pull the yellow heads off to make sure they do not go to seed. Thistle seeds are good for the birds. 

[arugula]

That's true too, there do seem to be lots of dandelions.... 

[ferreter51]

That's true too, there do seem to be lots of dandelions.... 

Very few dandelions here, likewise docks and others, it's just the thistles.  I waged war on the dandelions last year, most going to a friend's Guinea Pig.  I could just do without thistles at the moment.

[Goosegirl]

I have an abundance of both - oh deepjoy...!