Verbascum is a family of over 400 different species of flowering plants, commonly called mullein, some of which are used in herbal medicine. Verbascum species are native to Eurasia with the Mediterranean being the home of the largest number of varieties. But despite this and despite Verbascum being well-suited for dry and chalky soils, I’ve only ever seen Verbascum sinuatum in the wild here. And very few regional garden centers (online or offline) offer much beyond one or two varieties of yellow- or white-blooming chaixii, thapsus, nigrum, or olympicum – if at all.
Verbascum chaixii album
This was the first kind of Verbascum I tried to grow here by buying plants online. Since Verbascum chaixii is native to Spain, France, Italy, and Greece one should think it would grow in this garden, but it didn’t. Very few blooms for about a week and then they dried up. After the second summer I dug up what was left and put them in the compost.
Verbascum densiflorum
In the first fall after our arrival I tossed out lots of seeds that I had brought with me from Switzerland, among them two or three varieties of Verbascum. One of those seeds finally sprouted in 2024 and this year – without any additional watering – very quickly grew into an impressive Mullein, blooming from May through June, at a final height of about 180 cm.
Verbascum densiflorum supposedly blooms only once but it seems to be sprouting again next to the old stem, so we will see.
Due to their mucilage and saponins, the flowers are used medicinally to treat coughs as an expectorant and irritation reliever, and are also used in folk medicine to treat rheumatism.
Verbascum sinuatum
This plant grew from seeds I had gathered on my walks and scattered in the garden. Verbascum sinuatum is native to the Mediterranean, to Israel and Central Asia, growing to about 120cm, liking heavy soil
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