Patron Saints, prickly flowers: the Scottish Thistle

St Andrew’s Day falls on November 30th, he is the Patron Saint of Scotland. The prickly flowers of the Scottish thistle are St Andrew’s emblem.

This illustration is by Lucy Waterfield (Rory Waterfield) for the eBook “In Your Autumn Garden” by Plews Garden Design, and depicts a Welsh dragon finding the Scottish thistle is not to his taste! The following article is based on a chapter in the same eBook.

Unlike the knightly St George and the Celtic monks David and Patrick, Saint Andrew is the Andrew who was one of Jesus’ disciples: a fisherman. Although probably most well known as Scotland’s patron saint, Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania and Barbados, where November 30th is celebrated as a national independence day.

Legend has it that in the mid thirteenth century, the king of Norway was planning to invade Scotland. In order to creep up on the Scottish clans who were gathered to defend their country, the Norwegians landed their ships at night. They removed their shoes in order to move more quietly. But as the warriors crept barefoot towards Scots, one of them trod on a spiny thistle and his cry of pain alerted the Scottish army who were then able to defeat the Norwegians in battle.

The Scots then took the thistle as their national emblem in gratitude. Although the Scottish Thistle didn’t appear as a royal emblem until 1470 when it graced silver coins. In 1540 it became the symbol of the royal and knightly Order of the Thistle.

Which is the true Scottish Thistle?

The common or spear thistle, Cirsium vulgare, is the most likely contender to be the original Scottish thistle of national symbol fame. It is widely spread across Europe, western Asia and northern Africa; archaeology has shown it was native in Medieval Scotland. The Cotton thistle (Onopordum acanthium) is a more modern popular choice for the Scottish emblem. But it is debatable whether it would have been naturally found in Fife during the thirteenth century.

Cirsium vulgare is an impressive plant growing to 6 foot tall, which would make it a bit difficult to step on by accident. However, as a bi-ennial in its first year it would have a ground hugging basal clump of foliage rather than a tall flower stem. Although Cirsium vulgare is an invasive weed in some areas, there are many thistle cultivars which make good garden plants.

Cirsium rivulare atropurpureum is a regular at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Its height is useful at the back of a border and the deep red purple flowers combine well with Astrantia major ‘hapsden blood’ for example. For a longer lasting and still informal planting scheme the Cirsium would look good through spring and summer partnered with Miscanthus sinensis ‘silberfeder’, Verbena bonariensis as well as the Astrantia.

Cirsium ‘mount Etna’ is another show stopper, with softer, less prickly foliage and white flowers that are topped with pink.

What other plants could be a national emblem for Scotland?

However, I can think of a couple of other plants which may have a case for being the national emblem of Scotland instead of the famous Scottish thistle. These would be the Scottish bluebell or Harebell (as the English call it) and oats.

The Scottish bluebell (Campanula rotundifolia) is a very pretty wildflower that flowers July – September. Not in woods like the English bluebell but on open heath land, hedgerows and sandy dunes. Both the Scottish thistle and the Scottish bluebell are nectar rich and loved by bees.

Oats (Avena sativa) have perhaps the best claim to a national plant emblem for Scotland. It’s the cereal crop used to make porridge after all! Porage (a Scottish and English North Country spelling) oats grow well in the Scottish climate where long summer daylight hours, cooler temperatures and a higher rainfall than most of the UK allow the grain to swell naturally and provide a plump grain suitable for human food.

Warmer, drier climates produce a poorer quality cereal and so the crop is more likely to be used as animal fodder, for example as part of a horse’s mash.

Probably not plants to grow in your small garden, although oats are nevertheless an important food crop. And as for how to eat your porage oats for breakfast. It could be made with milk or water. But only have a dash of salt added for taste, the Scottish way (according to my grandfather) none of your sugar and syrup!