Milk thistle
Milk thistle
Silybum marianum
herb☀️ full-sun🪴 well drained📏 medium🌡️ RHS H4–H5
📋Quick Facts
Water
💧💧 Average watering
Hardiness
Zone 5-10
About
Spiny thistle with mottled leaves; seeds used in herbal remedies.
Top tip
Milk thistle is prickly and self-seeding; give it space, stake if necessary and remove unwanted seedlings.
Also known as: Milk thistle, Silybum marianum, Cardo mariano, Chardon-Marie, Mariendistel, Mariadistel, Ostropest plamisty, Cardo-mariano
Pest Resilience
5/5 — Highly resilient
Prickly and aromatic; virtually nothing eats it.
Visual Characteristics
Fruits
Yes
Harvest: Late summer to autumn / fall
🍳
Culinary
Culinary Use
Roasted seeds as snack, herbal tea, young leaves sautéed, stems peeled and braised, salad garnish
The milk thistle year in your garden
Dispatching imaginary bots to check your garden out...
What to do now
How to Propagate
🌰Seed
EasyThis plant produces viable seeds for propagation
Hardiness Zones
H1a (tender)H7 (very hardy)
RHS H4–H5
USDA 7 equivalent