Topic: Teasel

[Mrs Ava]

I have a couple of groups of teasel plants in the back garden, all now over 6 foot tall, all looking fabulous, and all, but one, are spikey and flowering as I would expect.  There is one however, not spikey at all, and the flowers don't have the usual spiney outer leaves.  Do they come in males and females, or do I have a sport?  Should I save the seed and make myself into a soft teasel millionaire??  ;D ;D

[Zippy Seale]

snooker baize is still teased  with teasels, well the best stuff is,
maybe you should grow it and sale it to  a baize comapny.
if not  you may get snookered with alot of plants

[philcooper]

EJ,

I've never met a spineless Teasel and they don't need such things to produce seed in vast quantities.

I have a varigated leek (normal green and pale cream stripes) that I am cultivating to get some pips and so propagate it vegetatively - your spineless may not come true from seed (you could try bagging the flower heads)

Phil

[Mrs Ava]

OKay, nipped out to take some snaps.  The other funny thing is the normal teasel is now home to the blackfly population of Essex, where the smooth one isn't!  Maybe the Essex black fly are well 'ard!  ;D


 
Here are the smooth ones, as you can see, no prickles on the leaves or stems, and the heads are missing the side leaves. 

 
And the expected teasel, mean spikes too!

[philcooper]

Why not try sending the pictures to the BBC Essex Gardening Programme?

[wardy]

Oer EJ you could have bred a new teasel without knowing it  :)

I have notice today, when in amongst my teasel, how the rain sits in the cup shaped space between the leaf and the stem.  I'd never noticed it before but today the plant was literally full of water even late evening when I thought the heat of the day would have dried it all up  :)

[john_miller]

Hortus III mentions nine different species of teasel, EJ. The only one that is bractless is supposed to have spines but all the spineless ones are supposed to have bracts! Being spineless I wonder if your plant is producing a chemical unpalatable to the aphids for self protection.

[Jane the Novice]

They look lovely EJ. I think you only have half the Essex blackfly and I have the other half!