This Monster 10ft Thistle Could Be The Biggest In The World

A green-fingered couple may have grown the tallest thistle in the world with this massive 10ft weed in their back garden.

Carl and Jean Parker are dwarfed by the monster thistle, which towers to 9ft 10ins (2.9m).

They’re now hoping experts from the Guinness World of Records will confirm they’ve got a world record.

Huge - the thistle towers to nearly 10ft tall (Pictures: SWNS)

The current record for the tallest thistle is 8ft and is located in Ottawa, Canada.

Care home worker Jean, 59, said: “Most people are ashamed of weeds in their garden - but we love ours.

"It’s like something from Jack and the Beanstalk.”

She added: "I’ve contacted Guinness World Records on their website and they said it should be around 12 weeks until they can come out and verify it.

"I just hope we can keep it strong and healthy until then - hopefully it will get even taller.”

Carl, 54, first spotted the weed about 12 months ago when he was tidying up the garden.

Rather than dig it up, he replanted it and the thistle shot up to its huge heights within a few months. The couple, who now tend to it carefully, are putting its growth spurt down to rain and balmy weather.

But it wasn’t until Jean posted a picture of her next to the giant plant on Facebook that she realised it could be a new world record.

Since then she’s been researching online and found it is taller than the last recorded tallest thistle on the Guinness World Records website.

"We’d be over the moon if it won,” she said. “Ours is bigger than the current record so hopefully it will be confirmed as the world’s tallest. It’d be really nice to be recognised.”