Plant in full sun to part shade with regular to very little irrigation where it tolerates most soil types so long as there is decent drainage. It is cold hardy to around 25-28° F - our plants had only tip damage in the January 2007 cold spell when we had 3 nights in a row that went down to 25° F. This dramatic and unusual plant has very attractive an unusual dissected foliage and can be stunning in bloom. Its form is a bit odd and is best when allowed to sprout at the base to make a multi-trunked narrow shrub or miniature tree - looks like a plant from a Dr. Seuss book. Can be kept as more of a single stemmed plant, which makes it look a bit like a tree fern, or one can pinch the growth tip of a young plant to encourage it to branch. The flowers are very attractive to honeybees, though the stems bearing the flowers usually die back after flowering and should be trimmed out.

Sonchus canariensis is rare in its natural habit in in the Canary Islands where it is found in the southern region of Tenerife Island and in a couple canyons on Gran Canaria Island. It is similar looking to Sonchus palmensis, which only grows on La Palma Island. Both of these species have been at times listed as varieties or subspecies of Sonchus hierrensis and Sonchus pinnatus. In Zoe and David Bramwell's Wildflowers of the Canary Island the differences between these two have been described with Sonchus canariensis being the taller, up to 3 meters tall with larger flower heads, that are up to 1.5 cm wide, in a more open inflorescence. Sonchus palmensis is noted as growing to 2 meters tall with dense inflorescence of much smaller heads of flowers containing fewer florets. The name for the genus is a name given to the sow thistle by the Ancient Greeks and the specific epithet references where this particular plant comes from, though there are a total of at least 24 species of Sonchus found in the Canary Islands. Our thanks go out to John Bleck for introducing us to this strange, yet attractive, plant which we have grown since 2004. 

Information displayed on this page about Sonchus canariensis is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.