Every nation has its symbols and Scotland is no exception. From the Scottish emblem of the thistle, to tartan fabric or Harris Tweed, all sorts of objects have come to be associated with the country.
Now, as Scots prepare to vote on September 18 on whether to end the 307-year union with England, photographer Suzanne Plunkett captured details of food, drink and other items seen as typically Scottish.
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"Wait a second. There’s a thistle season?"
How hard can it be to find a thistle — the national emblem of Scotland — in Scotland?
Turns out it can be quite a prickly problem.
I needed a thistle to complete a set of close-up pictures I was shooting to try to capture the identity of Scotland in small details ahead of an independence referendum being held there on September 18.
The series was to include items such as tartan kilts, whisky, shortbread biscuits, Harris tweed and a lurid orange drink known as Irn Bru.
And, of course, a thistle.
Since I had a trip planned to Scotland, I could photograph many of these details in the country itself, but I thought I would get a head start and try to locate a thistle in London before I set off.
Having done my research, I dropped by my local florists and authoritatively requested Onopordum Acanthium — which as any scholar of botany (or person with access to the Internet) knows, is the Latin name for the Scotch Thistle.
The florist, without even pausing to look it up on her iPhone, archly responded that I should come back when they are in season.
Wait a second. There’s a thistle season?
Surely not in Scotland, I thought. I was sure I could find it in a posh Edinburgh flower shop. Surely they would have acres of greenhouses dedicated to growing the national flower year round.
Once in the Scottish capital I headed to Jenners, a famous department store with a renowned flower shop.
All they could offer me, however, was an ornamental thistle called Eryngium or Sea Holly.
Yes, it looked thistle-y, but it lacked the tufts of vibrant magenta colouring that you’d expect from the classic Scottish plant. I tried photographing it, but wasn’t satisfied. I could easily imagine the irate letters from proud Scots.
Back in London, I grabbed an assignment at the Chelsea Flower Show thinking that here, in this annual fiesta of flora I would surely be guaranteed at least one Onopordum Acanthium.
And there it was! Nestled in one of the ornamental gardens, I spotted a lovely magenta-topped plant surrounded by buzzing bees.
I snapped away and was about to head home when I paused to double-check with the garden’s designer.
“It is awfully close to the Onopordum Acanthium,” he said. “But no, it’s a Cirsium Trevors, shall I spell it?”
The designer said the thistle I needed would be in season and likely on show at the Hampton Court Flower Show a few weeks later — however I would be too busy covering the Wimbledon tennis championships to attend.
Deadlines loomed. A Cirsium Trevors looked awfully close. It fooled me, but tempting though it was to include a near-miss thistle, it would’ve been wrong.
I gave up. The project would have to go ahead without it.
Two weeks later, just before I was due to file my pictures, I was at friend’s house near Finsbury Park in north London. After lunch we decided to take a walk in the park.
As we took a shortcut through an overgrown path, I was about to casually tell my friend to mind the thorny plants when I realised what I was saying.
“Watch out for the THISTLE!?”
And there it was, bold as a bagpiper on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. The Onopordum Acanthium in all its purple-tufted glory.
Of course, the moment I stopped looking, I saw them everywhere
I’m just thankful my list didn’t include Scotland’s national animal to my list — a unicorn.