Thistles in Steve's Yard - A Few Years Ago

The only time we were at Steve and Mary Lynn's home in upstate New York was a few years ago (to say the least). I loved the bees on the blossoms, and didn't realize until later when I uploaded the pictures that it was a thistle blossom. Did they grow it deliberately for it's beautiful blossom? (We do have a bit of Scottish blood in our family - and if you don't know the connection between thistles and Scotland, well....) I had waited to put another posting on the blog, hoping that Mandy's posting about the possibility of a family reunion might stir up some comments, but I see that you are all either ignoring things, or are asleep???