The Rural Voice, 2006-02, Page 32Gardening
It mag be a weed to you but it's beautiful
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
I only left one standing in the back
of the garden. My dad noticed it first.
It's funny how quickly farmers can
spot a weed, or rather what they
classify as a weed. I understand they
have to be vigilant to keep their crops
free of weeds and to protect both the
yield and the value of their crop.
Gardeners must drive farmers crazy
with the introduction of plants that
can pose a problem if they escape to
the croplands. But I digress.
My story is about the stately
mullein.
Dad was not impressed at first
with the grey giant at the back of the
border, although he did come to
admit that it made a striking show.
The wild mullein was close to six feet
tall and the sunny yellow blossoms
dotted along its spire would take
weeks to finish blooming; an
impressive addition to any garden.
But not as impressive as the stand
of mullein at Patrick Lima's garden
Larkwhistle in the Bruce Penninsula.
I was bowled over with the
extraordinary colour and size of the
mulleins growing along a split rail
fence. Most impressive. The Turkish
mullein has a wealth of stems with
sparks of hot yellow blossoms with
pink centres.
There are 360 species of mullein
or verbascum in Europe, North Africa
and Central Asia and none native to
Canada. Used as a medicinal herb, it
was brought to North America by
European settlers. The common
mullein or V. thapsus has made itself
at home in the most unlikely of spots;
roadsides, gravel pits and abandoned
yards. There are wonderful pictures
of it on the web site for the
Government of British Columbia
under Ministry of Agriculture and
28 THE RURAL VOICE
Lands, pest management. That seems
to say it all.
This biennial starts out as a hairy
whorl of soft grey to olive green
leaves. The furry covering helps
protect the plant from droughty
conditions and the lighter colour
repels the sun much like wearing
white when you get into the
wonderful hot summer days. In
the spring of the second
year a great tall stalk
with leaves closely
protecting it, erupts
from the centre of
last year's mat.
Colour and
shape are not
restricted to
yellow and single
stalks. The Greek
mulleins growing
at Larkwhistle
were like huge
candlelabra with a
myriad of branches
with clear yellow
blossoms. The
Turkish mullein was as
furry as cotton wool but
did not tower over the rest of
the garden like the wild mullein. The
hybrid varieties range from 12 inches
to 45 inches.
Self -sown seedlings are a bonus
and easily transplanted when they are
young. Don't get caught with not
pulling out the excess numbers. They
can easily take over a small garden.
That being said, for a really dramatic
effect, plant not just one but two or
three together for greater show.
Once you start looking you will be
pleasantly surprised at what is
available from the seed houses and
your local garden centre. The hybrid
mulleins are unusual for those sunny
dry areas in the garden. Most of the
hybrids have showy green leaves and
bear a number of shorter spikes for a
more compact habit. Flowers will
bloom for a longer period and
removing spent blooms wi 1 1
encourage further growth and more
blooms.
There are some wonderful colours.
A new one from Britain, called Helen
Johnson, is a beautiful coppery -
orange shade with cream highlights.
Don't be too distracted with the
addition of a new colour in the
garden and neglect to check the zone
requirements. "Helen" grows in
zones 5 through 9 so may need a bit
of coverage in a 4 to get through the
winter.
A quick search (I am
enjoying using the search
engine on my computer
this winter) shows that
Canning Perennials, a
few minutes south of
Paris, Ontario, offers
a good selection of
hybrid verbascum.
They are more
compact and have
wonderful showy
flowers all summer
long. If you are
looking for an
exceptionally tall
mullein look no
further than
Verbascum Wega. It
will do well in zone 3-8
in average soil. It is one of
the impressive tall varieties that
has multi -stalks of yellow flowers.
Richters Herbs, out of Goodwood,
north of Toronto, offers the common
mullein V. thapsus for remedies. The
dried leaves and fluid extract are
good for coughs, hoarseness and
bronchitis. They are sold as annuals
in the form of both seeds and plants.
Don't neglect your favourite
garden centre. I have picked up some
nice plants, labeled verbascum, that
have flowered for several years now:
wonderful peach shade with no name
attached, but wonderful none the less.
I have been keeping an eye on the
land around us to make sure my
mullein has not escaped the garden
and so far so good. I would not want
to have to start pulling it out around
the farm, so I keep the seed heads
trimmed.
Oh, one last bonus: the
hummingbirds love the mullein
flowers and the wee finches go after
the seeds so it makes for quite a busy
garden.0