Field Thistle is a beautiful, somewhat unusual plant that attracts Monarchs and other butterflies, beetles, native bees and wasps and a host of other pollinators.  It's also a larval host to the Painted Lady butterfly and host of the rare Thistle Long-horned Bee, Melissodes desponsa, a solitary nester seeking pollen only from thistle (See image, USGS).
 
Field Thistle grows naturally in dry prairies and pastures, and at woodland edges.  It's short lived but readily self-seeds and provides pollinators with tons of nectar.  
 
Field Thistle usually blooms in its second year and generally does not live much longer, although its dead stems house native bees through the winter.
 
Nearby, watch for new seedlings to pop up.
 
Try Field Thistle with Black-eyed Susan, Purple Love Grass and New York Aster.
 
Last photo: Painted Lady Butterfly