Moth Mullein ~ Verbascum blattaria ~ and 50 similar items

A dainty and lovely biennial in the snapdragon family. In its first year, smooth, deep green leaf rosettes form and lie close to the ground, giving no hint of next year’s tall and graceful flower stalks. The rosettes overwinter and start to show signs of further development in the spring of the second year, when slender, multi-branched stems emerge and elongate, reaching an ultimate height of 4 or 5 feet. Though tall, Moth Mullein’s general effect is airy enough for the front of the border. Neatly folded, angular buds on short pedicels pop open into large, gleaming yellow flowers blushed on the petal backs with purple, echoing the bright purple, intricately furred stamens tipped with brilliant orange pollen. Blooms unfold in late June or early July, and continue through summer, ending at last in September.