Verbascum (Mullein)
at Digging Dog
Including Verbascum phoeniceum, olympicum, and nigrum
Verbascum
Mullein
This genus has a host of common names, including ‘Beggar’s Blanket’ and ‘Old Man’s Flannel’. In England, the very poor used to put the thick leaves into their shoes for warmth. It is also said that when fish eat the seeds, they are stupefied and can be
gathered by hand.
Although most of the more than 300 species are biennials, our offerings are perennials. Though some are dwarfs and some are giants, nearly all have fuzzy stamens and prefer very well drained sandy or rocky soil. We like to use them in the rock garden as specimens or for naturalizing. Verbascum ‘Golden Wings’ 
Just above this dwarf’s tidy mounds of deeply texture gray-green foliage, buds which look like miniature satin pillows and cheerful one in. yellow flowers rest on short spikes. We plant ‘Golden Wings’ as an accent in the rock garden and in stone wall crevices, and especially like to combine it with Campanula ‘Cherry Bells’.
Blooms June–August. Size: 8" high x 12" wide; hardy to zone 6. Verbascum Golden Wings (P-1415)
Each $6.00
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Verbascum chaixii ‘Sixteen Candles’
Grounded by gray-green rosettes, these upstanding candelabras of copious, violet-eyed, sunshine-hued flowers stage a truly incandescent spectacle. Irregular scallops, net-veining and long petioles define its dynamic large basal leaves. Preferring a somewhat dry, well drained site, ‘Sixteen Candles’s proud yellow spires command attention alongside Nepeta reichenbachiana.
Blooms June–August. Size: 3-1/4' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 5. Verbascum chaixii Sixteen Candles (P-1287)
Each $6.00
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Verbascum chaixii ‘Wedding Candles’
Illuminated tapers stage droves of tightly set pure white flowers centered by fuzzy purple filaments and bright orange anthers. The flat-faced blooms shine above pearly green textured leaves.
Conveying a bright floral lift all summer long, this undemanding perennial can be sited in drier garden areas with Perovskia abrotanoides or Phygelius ‘Snow Queen’.
Blooms June–August. Size: 3'–3-1/2' high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 5. Verbascum chaixii Wedding Candles (P-1417)
Each $6.00
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Verbascum hybridum ‘Wega’
Banana Custard Mullein
A felted, biennial rosette of ample, grayish green ripple-edged foliage launches spectacular 6 ft. tall luminous flowering stalks. The crowded, blunt-tipped stout stems house fuzzy, round silver buds and large, saucer-shaped blossoms bathed in soft custard yellow hues with orange anthers.
These long blooming, multibranched beauties are some of the last flowers to grace our mixed border, delivering glowing vertical accents ‘til October’s end.
Blooms July–October. Size: 6' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 6. Verbascum hybridum Wega (P-1416)
Each $6.00
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Verbascum nigrum ‘Album’
With flower spikes reaching over 3-½ ft. tall, ‘Album’ is truly dramatic. Its many white flowers are tinged with crimson at the base of each petal and accented by golden orange stamens. The large basal leaves are coarse, deep green and textured. Their undulating margins, and often their stems, are tinted a deep burgundy color.
Blooms July–August. Size: 4' high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 5.
Verbascum nigrum Album (p-0320)
Each $6.00
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Verbascum olympicum
Candlewick
A remarkable perennial of Olympian proportions, Candlewick originates in Europe’s Bithynian Mountains. Large, felted, wavy-edged leaves form a huge, silvery basal rosette that lasts through the winter. In summer, woolly “candles” branch out at the base, and soar skyward with
cheerful clusters of bright yellow flowers. Outstanding as a feature plant in a shrubby Mediterranean border,
this monumental Mullein appreciates a dry spot.
Blooms July–September. Size: 6'–8' high x 2'–3' wide; hardy to zone 7. Verbascum olympicum (P-0973)
Each $6.00
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Verbascum phoeniceum ‘Flush of White’
Dressed in pure white, the slender flowering spikes show off an abundance of frosty, yellow-eyed blooms. This illuminated display arises from ripple-edged green foliage, which achieves a tidy, compact rosette. ‘Flush of White’s uniform snowy coloring is unusual for a Verbascum, while its smaller stance becomes an added bonus where space is limited.
Blooms May. Size: 2'–2-1/2' high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 6. Verbascum phoeniceum Flush of White (P-1288)
Each $6.00
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Verbascum phoeniceum ‘Rosetta’
Rivaling ‘Violetta’s colorful display, ‘Rosetta’ is her pretty, carmine-pink relation. Anchored by comely, crimpled dark green leaves, the tall spires host sumptuously hued, gold-centered, saucer-shaped flowers that celebrate the vivid hues of Phygelius ‘New Sensation’ and Liatris ‘Floristan Violett’.
Blooms May–August. Size: 2'–2-1/2' high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 6. Verbascum phoeniceum Rosetta (P-1229)
Each $6.00
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Verbascum phoeniceum ‘Violetta’
Purple Mullein
As a precursor to the royal floral show of this delicate Mullein, enchanting buds swell, resembling tiny, dark satin pillows. A deep green, flat rosette of oval-shaped, crinkled leaves provides an attractive base for the airy and richly colored flowering spikes. Brightened by gilt stamens, papery purple blooms are flat-faced and look fabulous in arrangements. Self-seeding easily, and shorter in stature than most
Verbascums, ‘Violetta’ is perfect for the smaller garden.
Blooms May–August. Size: 2'–3' high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 6. Verbascum phoeniceum Violetta (P-0972)
Each $6.00
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