The Millenium Mullein - Page 2
© Jojo
Verbascum bombyciferum
Biennial
Grows to 5 feet or more. Very felty-white; one of the fuzziest! The buds are also very woolly. The petals are yellow, the sexual filaments are white. From Asia Minor.
The hybrid `Arctic Summer' has brighter yellow flower colour, and is highly fuzzy. They also tend to flower again and again on old flower spikes, although unlike many of the hybrids, they produce viable seeds.
Verbascum broussa See V. Bombyciferum
Verbascum chaixii
Perennial (fairly short-lived)
AKA Nettle-leaved Mullein, because it's leaves are long and very coarsely toothed. Grows to 3 feet tall. Bears drooping spikes of yellow flowers in early summer. Each floret has a cluster of purple stamens at its center.
Groups of seed grown plants will often contain seedlings
that produce white flowers.
Verbascum dumulsum
Perennial
Spikes of yellow, purple eyed flowers in midsummer. Grows to only one foot tall, with velvety white leaves. Because this one is reliably perennial and has such a dwarf habit, it has become the subject of much hybridizing, although as a species it is rarely found in gardens.
Verbascum Hybrids These have been produced by the purposeful or accidental genetic crossing of 2 species.
Verbascum 'Helen Johnson'
Perennial
Grows to 2 to 3 feet tall, with many-stemmed spikes of flowers. The flowers of this hybrid are sterile, so they don't set seed and tend to bloom repetitively on each spike, sometimes lasting 2 months or more. Describing the flower colour of this mullein is difficult. Many call it copper-buff. I would say it is a peachy beige. There is also a little variability, mainly due to differing soil types.
Because this plant is sterile, propagating it cannot be done by seeds. Dig up the plant in early spring and take root cuttings to increase your stock.
Verbascum 'Jackie'
A cross between V. phoeniceum and V. dumulosum 'Jackie' is a peachy-pink mullein, producing many flowers on short stalks to only 2 feet tall. Each flower is highlighted with purple sexual parts. Like 'Helen Johnson', this one is sterile, so the bloom spikes last a long time, but don't produce seed.
Verbascum 'Letitia'
Perennial
'Letitia' is a shrubby species, resulting from a cross between V. dumulosum and V. spinosum. It also grows to only 18 inches tall, and bears short spikes of light-yellow flowers, with orange centres.
Another sterile hybrid, with multi-blooming stems and non-viable seeds. Propagate from new-wood cuttings in spring and early-summer.
Because this one hardens its wood each year, it is not reliably hardy in many zones where all other mulleins can grow. Only half-hardy in zone 8, where I live, I find it is best protected over the winter, not only from cold, but from precipitation. Grow in a clay pot with very well-drained soil, and move under cover over the winter months.
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