You may remember the Cardoon That Couldn’t Be Stopped:

Now in its second year, it’s achieving its full growth.  The photo above is from one month ago.

Here’s one less than a month later:

That was taken before we left for Europe.  Last night when I went out to look around to see what would need weeding/staking/saving whenever it stops raining, I was shocked to see:

It’s even more astonishing from the other side:

I don’t like turning my back on it.