Verbascum thapsus
Common Mullein
Common names: Woolflower
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 50 cm, rows 60 cm
- Lifespan
- Biennial
- Sowing
- Apr–Jun
- Harvest
- Jul–Sep
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −15 °C
- Water need
- Low
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: 4028mdk09 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Verbascum thapsus is a biennial plant that develops a dense, woolly rosette of leaves in its first year. In the second year it produces a tall, bright yellow flower spike that can reach 1.5 to 2 meters. The plant blooms from July to September and is highly attractive to bees and bumblebees, making it a valuable pollinator-friendly species for natural gardens. Dried flowers have been traditionally used for cough tea, though the fine hairs should be removed before processing as they can irritate skin and mucous membranes.
Care instructions
Choose a sunny, dry, well‑drained site; the plant prefers dry conditions and does not tolerate waterlogging. Plant seedlings 50 cm apart so the rosette can spread freely in the first year. Water sparingly and only during prolonged dry periods, as excess moisture can damage the roots. Leave some flower heads after blooming so the plant can reseed itself for the next year. Harvest flowers on a dry morning once fully open, and dry them loosely spread in a shaded, airy place.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–Jun
HarvestJul–Sep
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 12 °C, ideally 20 °C
- Days to sprout
- 14 to 35 days
- Light
- Needs light to sprout
- Sowing depth
- Press in, don't cover
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, dry, lean, sandy
The great mullein loves free-draining, rather poor soils and tolerates drought well. It does not like waterlogging at all, as it makes the roots rot. A sunny, chalky spot with a sandy or stony subsoil is ideal, just as it naturally finds on roadsides and embankments.
Feeding
Light feeder
As an undemanding wild plant, the great mullein needs no additional feeding. Soil that is too rich in nutrients leads to soft, floppy growth rather than the compact rosette it naturally forms. A thin dose of compost in spring is entirely enough if the soil is very depleted.
Overwintering
In the first year, the great mullein forms only a leaf rosette, which stays outdoors, hardy. A loose cover of brushwood or leaves helps in very severe frost, but is usually not needed. Only in the second year does the tall flower stem shoot up; after that the plant dies and seeds itself.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
The most reliable way to propagate it is by sowing, preferably directly in place from May to June. The seeds need light to germinate, so only press them in lightly instead of covering them with soil. Great mulleins readily seed themselves in warm, open beds, so in the following year you often find new rosettes near the mother plant. As a young plant it tolerates transplanting well; later it forms a deep taproot and is harder to move.
For your garden
Grow Common Mullein yourself
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