The photo is of a young flower head of the Globe Thistle aka Echinops Ritro. I did crop the image and I played around a little with the colour and brightness to make it seem a little crystalline.
I am not sure where it grows in the wild - it isn't a native plant - but it throws up a lot of flower spikes which, when young, look like a mediaeval weapon. As it grows it turns into a metallic blue and is covered in scores of tiny flowers.
It is a magnet for bees as you will see in future posts.
