Quick Pic to Brighten Your Day: Scottish Thistles in California - Their Color Is Worth Celebrating

Thistles, long a symbol of Scotland, ninja'd their way to Northern California by hitching a ride there years ago inside bags of crop seeds, according to the local Conservation League. 
Thistles have a peculiarly spiky beauty, and an almost ethereal color.
The pictured thistle grows near a secret-garden sort of park nearby; secret-garden because the only people who know about it are longtime residents and the passing-through homeless who camp out there until the cops move them along.
 
The plant may get little love by locals in California because they're an invasive species, but it's hard to dismiss a tough little beauty like the thistle.