Weed Me
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What happens when you’re away 3 weeks in June? The weeds start peeking in the windows to see if you’re around.
Common Mullein - Verbascum thapsus
My wife considers common mullein to be an ugly weed but I happen to like the plant for it’s foliage. The silver-gray leaves have a velvet look and feel and in garden conditions can grow to an impressive height. This is a plant you can really look up to.
A biennial alien wildflower one used for medicinal purposes. My Peterson Field Guide also states that the seed is a narcotic fish posion. Who in the world researched getting fish high on narcotics?
I really like how this garden bed went ‘wild’ this year. It’s hard to make out in the photo but some Lamb’ Ears (Stachys byzantina) found their way over and seem to be mimicking the mullein with their foliage and flower stalks.
I do have to admit the flowers are not anything to write home about. They’re hardly worth mentioning here. Only a few flowers seem to bloom at any one time and the flower stalk is never seen full of flowers.
One good thing about this plant. Weeds don’t stand a chance under it. And to ‘weed’ a good space all I need to do is pull up one plant.
So next time one of these germinates in your garden you might want to think twice before pulling it. You never know when you might need to posion a fish.
One last Photo before I go. I didn’t realize I shot more than the flowers of Yellow Loosestrife until I saw the photo. It made me think of the Green Fingered Photographer and all the great insect photos I’ve seen on his blog. The link to his site is a thank you for him taking the time to come here after I asked him to identify a ‘moth’ I happened to get a photo of the other day. Turns out it was no moth but something between a moth and a butterfly called a Skipper. I was happy to find out I’m not the only thing caught between the rungs on the evolutionary ladder.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Wow! Those are some serious, serious mulleins, to be sure. The weeds are trying to look in windows here, but so far I’ve kept them down to a dull roar, of sorts. And don’t you love it when you take a photo of one thing and get something else into the bargain, too? So long as it’s not UFOs, of course.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:44 am
I’m so glad to learn that this plant is a narcotic fish poison! Not that I have any fish to kill off at this point, but one never knows. Game show hopefuls should also file this one away in their stash of facts.
I love Lamb’s Ear, but can never keep it alive through summer here. It looks wonderful in spring, but I have to treat it the same as seasonal flowers and just buy it in fall and spring and expect it to last a couple of months each time.
Aiyana
June 30th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
The mulleins are not exactly civilized looking, but they do have their own beauty, WiseAcre - next to a hybrid tea rose they’d look weird, but they make a nice combination with lambs ear and orange daylilies.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
July 1st, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Mulleins have always been welcome in the beds away from the house. Now that you point out their value as weed block I may reconsider letting them move closer to the house.
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
I’ve heard that the leaves of this plant make an adquate substitute for toilet paper on camping trips. See, you never know how useful a “weed” might be. I’ve always admired them - from afar.