VERBASCUM. Mullein. Europe, northern Africa and Asia. A very large genus of the snapdragon family, though in no obvious way related to other cultivated members of that family. Most are biennials, but there are some showy, mostly short-lived perennials among them. The plants typically have rosettes of large, low-lying basal leaves and erect flower stems. The flowers open widely, with five nearly equal segments. They have only a short basal tube, unlike the more familiar snapdragons, penstemons and monkeyflowers. Yellow is the predominant color, but there are many other shades represented. These are tough, easily grown plants for open borders and banks. They thrive in full sun, with reasonably well drained soil and moderate to occasional watering (many are drought tolerant). The following are all hardy to 0^oF or less.

bombyciferum ‘Polarsommer’. This is normally a biennial, though it can be coaxed through a third year if the flower stems are cut down. It is valuable for its crowns of huge (to over 1') oval leaves, densely covered with white wool. In the summer of its second year, an equally woolly, heavy stalk rises as much as 5' from the rosette, displaying clusters of bright yellow blossoms, a little under 2" across, on short stems. It is spectacular in group plantings, though finicky about soil drainage.

chaixii ‘Album’. Nettle-leaved mullein. A perennial species with hairy grey-green, scallop-edged basal leaves up to 4" long. The flowering stems are 2’ to over 3’ high and usually branched. They carry many 1" white blossoms with mauve centers.

phoeniceum. Purple mullein. Southeastern Europe, Asia. An unusual perennial, with a branched rootstock and large broadly oval, deeply veined and scalloped, dark green leaves, which lie flat on the ground. It is summer blooming, with erect 2-5', branched stalks carrying many outfacing 1" to 1½" blossoms. Flower colors include purple, mauve, pink and white.

wiedemannianum. This is another biennial, of somewhat smaller scale. It has crowns of broad, white-woolly leaves up to 8" long. The flower stalks are 2-3' high, displaying violet blossoms just over 1" across. It is an obvious garden companion for V. bombyciferum.