Species, Wild Verbascum, Mullein

I agree completely, this strikingly and elegantly beautiful plant deserves to be better known and more commonly planted!

I...Read More was first bowled over by this airy and graceful plant in the gardens at Perennial Pleasures, East Hardwick VT Z4a, where it's a self-sowing biennial. A cloud of soft clear lemon yellow flowers floats like a flock of butterflies, suspended on a tall, well-branched inflorescence.

The leafless upper stems are thin and wiry but strong and self-supporting. No staking is necessary, and the flowers are self-cleaning. Flowering is abundant over a long season, June-August.

This is a scrim or see-through plant---though it's tall, in a border it's best placed toward the front, because through it you can still see the tall plants behind it, and because the small low evergreen rosette will not tolerate the shade of larger plants.

The leaves are glossy, dark green and deeply cut, their texture almost lacy. I am astonished that such a small rosette of foliage can support so many flowers!

This species requires good drainage and prefers rich soils. It makes an excellent rock garden plant.

A beautiful airy addition to the summer border, rarely grown or offered for sale in the UK, this lovely plant deserves to be better known...Read More. Native to Bulgaria and N Greece.