Cirsium occidentale

A native thistle with serious star power, Cirsium occidentale is anything but weedy. This dramatic California native plant forms a bold rosette of gray-green, woolly foliage before sending up tall, architectural stems topped with showy thistle flowers in shades of pink, purple, red, or white. The unopened buds are wrapped in silky, cobweb-like fibers, giving the whole plant a wild, sculptural beauty that feels perfectly at home in native plant gardens, wildlife gardens, and naturalistic borders. 

Growing approximately 2 to 6 feet tall, and sometimes taller in ideal conditions, Cirsium occidentale creates a striking vertical accent with a mature spread of about 2 to 3 feet. Blooming in summer, it is a powerful pollinator plant for bees, butterflies, beneficial insects, and other garden visitors. Its bold form pairs beautifully with California poppies, native salvias, buckwheats, yarrow, milkweed, grasses, clarkias, and other drought-tolerant California natives that bring movement, texture, and seasonal color to sunny spaces.

Plant Cirsium occidentale in full sun with excellent drainage and low to moderate water. Tough, architectural, wildlife-friendly, and wonderfully unexpected, this native thistle is a standout choice for gardeners who like their flowers with a little drama. Explore more habitat-supporting favorites in our California Natives collection. 

We guarantee that the plants we sell are healthy and viable at the time they leave our care.

If a plant arrives in substandard condition, please take clear photographs and contact us within 48 hours of delivery. To ensure eligibility under this guarantee, we strongly encourage you to open and unpack your shipment immediately upon delivery and inspect the plants thoroughly.

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Standard live-plant shipping to eligible destinations is $16.99 for 1–6 plants, $22.99 for 7–12, $28.99 for 13–18, $34.99 for 19–24, and $40.99 for 25–30. For 31 or more plants, shipping is 20% of the order value. Expedited shipping is priced separately at checkout.

(AL, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IN, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WV)
(list of states subject to change seasonally due to extreme heat or cold conditions)

We cannot ship Annie's Annuals plants to P.O. boxes or outside the continental U.S.

Individual plants are shipped in 4" pots and we ship in boxes of 4, 6, 8, or 12 plants per box.

For more details, read our full Ordering and Shipping Policies

Get your plants off to a strong start with our care guide.

Download the Plant Care Guide (PDF)