The first picture is not sufficiently clear or detailed to identify. The second plant looks like Carlina vulgaris. However, since you don't state where these are growing that may be incorrect. (I'm guessing S Europe looking at the electric sockets.) I know of no herbal uses for it.

For future reference the best forum on Garden Web for plant identification is Name That Plant Forum. You need to give a location and scale when posting as this helps greatly in identification.