Or, as some call it, Echinops bannaticus. Not quite so many this year (thistles, not bees) because the ornamental grass clump has been throwing elbows and really making more room for itself – at the expense of some of the less rowdy plants around it. (Wow…feeling really incoherent today.). One of my favorite plants in the garden. And one I just love to shoot at/on. Great bee, too.