Caribbean Crush Ornamental Mullein

Ornamental Mullein
Verbascum 'Caribbean Crush'
(ver-BASK-um)

This is strange perennial and I use the term perennial loosely since my Verbascum never seem to come up the following year. The color of these flowers is kind of brown except when the buds at the end of the stalk bloom and then they are a little yellow. I do like the hairy bits inside the flower but that really entails a very close look at the flower.

Most Verbascums get quite tall and at four feet this cultivar is no exception. The spikes come out of a nice rosette of silvery, soft leaves. It likes well drained soil and full sun. The drainage is key in having a successful run at this plant.

Olympic Mullein (Verbascum olympicum)

Olympic Mullein
Verbascum olympicum
(ver-BASK-um) (oh-LIM-pih-kum)
Synonyms: Greek Mullein, V. longiflorum var. pannosum

I saw this plant blooming at Wave Hill. It looked like a majestic perennial. The hairy leaves and flower stalks were quite tall and I liked the color of the flowers. I haven’t had much luck with Verbascum it always seems to be monocarpic. It has only come back once for me and then it died after flowering. I am not putting them down and now that I have seen this plant I might be tempted to try again. I am not going to give any growing tips because I don’t seem to be able to grow it. I do know some people that have been successful with Southern Charms Verbascum and I love the delicate color of those flowers. I have secretly always wanted to grow Arctic Summer Verbascum.



Here is the same flower with an Oriental Beetle (Anomala orientalis) crawling on it. These things were all over the garden this year. Here is a link to a Wikipedia article:
Oriental Beetle