Well......I purchased seed for what was supposed to be Verbascum phoeniceum ‘Violetta’. I only needed three, and ended up with much more than I needed. I planted 5 into the garden, and found out they weren’t phoeniceum ‘violetta’ at all. They appear to be a variety of Verbascum chaixii. Chaixii isn’t on your list of varieties you’ve sown, and I’d say you’re not missing out by not having this one. The foliage looks awful, and I assumed slugs and snails were to blame. Maybe I should look into mullien moths. Goodness knows I have plenty of other moths laying eggs and producing worms around here. The blooms of my chaixii are nothing special, imho. They are rather coarse and plain. They also selfsow like mad! I’ve since purchased a few Verbascum phoeniceum ‘violetta’ plants. I’m hoping they are nicer than the chaixii Verbascums.

Some sort of Verbascum chaixii, I think.

You’ve got a great variety of Verbascum’s there, Campanula. I’d love to hear how they do and see photos. I’m also trying to plant droughty things. Drought is a way of life for us in So CA. So far, both my verbascum’s are very drought tolerant. Lisa

When I had full sun gardens - no longer the case living mostly in the woods currently - I grew a number of verbascum. I quite like V. chaixii but then I appreciate most white flowered plants and especially those wih some vertical presence. I also grew a number of the Southern Charm series as I really like that warm, rich color palette. And a few named forms with similar coloring......'Jackie', 'Caribbean Crush', Helen Johnson'.......

Not particularly long lived perennials, IME. They would peter out after 3 or 4 seasons, which is why I grew a number of different named forms :-) I kept hunting for one that would be more or less permanent. V. chaixii was the only one that came close. But all had an extremely long bloom season in my climate.....from late spring until frost, if deadheaded.

I grow only one, Verbascum blattaria, from RHS seeds long ago (no longer an overseas member) but one I cherish enough to let it take over one of the seating areas. Had to move the table to an inconvenient distance to give the plants some light, especially this one that grew under the table with Lychnis coronaria. I need to let them set seeds.

Twenty years ago, V. bombyciferum was a fashionable plant. I used to have one or two every year. Not more, because the take up a lot of space, but they were worth it for the impressive woolly rosette the first year, and the glorious soft yellow candelabra the next. I don’t have it anymore, never see it anymore, don’t know where I would put it, but still miss it.

Marannese, Lychnis, or rose campion, has spread all over one end of my garden from one little plant I bought many years ago. Do you have trouble with it taking over? The little seedlings are like a carpet. Only lychnis and yarrow can puncture my tried and true method of heavily mulched 8 layers of newspaper. They're good mixers in the garden and in a vase and I do love them, I just wish I could control them. Are they as incredibly prolific for you?

As for verbascum, I've grown different types here and in So. Calif., but finally took them all out so I would have more room for roses. They are big fellas! They do make a statement in a vase.

I've always loved pictures of 'Gainesborough' in my garden books.. Seems to be mostly available in the UK. I see only one vendor in the US -- their photo shows a much harsher yellow than any UK photos. My main hesitation is the 'well drained soil'. Now that I'm getting more involved in the garden I may give it a try.

By the way, what exactly are the 'Cotswold Group' verbascums? Are they an arbitrary grouping, or by the same hybridizer, or ?? I've tried searching for an explanation but so far all I've found are individual listings such as "Verbascum (Cotswold Group) Gainsborough ". Not even listing of all the plants included in the Group.

I have feral Verbascum biennis which I rip out of gardens and lawn but leave in the field. I once planted an “ornamental” Verbascum in a dry, gravel-mulched garden where it happily reseeded, but I no longer remember the name. It was far from ornamental to my eye with muddy colors and a tendency to flop even in good light and unwatered gravel. So I haven’t been tempted to check out the genus any further. I would love reports of results as far as foliage and bloom for different types.

Continuing on with statuesque perennials-always a favourite of mine despite being a bit squeezed for space - I consider verbascums to be a dryer, sunnier stand-in for foxgloves.

Ah Mariannese - I had the first flowering last year...and to my utter shock and horror - a million lily beetle appeared from nowhere and ran amok. I hastily redug the bulbs I could easily locate...but the complete decimation of every scrap of foliage meant non blooming for this year - and yep, I sprayed them with a killer systemic in a sort of furious rage - only heading off bee guilt by a generous sowing of annual pollinators. Astonishingly, the henryii bulbs remained pristine with not a single lily beetle attempting snacking of manky larval poo glops- have noticed the same in my home garden - not a trace of the red peril on the l.speciosum, the wide-leaved hybrids or l.nepalense...while the asiatics and regales are always at high risk.

Does anyone recall the 'blue' verbascum, brought to market with great fanfare (by T&M? Reverted to a murky red then vanished. Not too sure what the Cotswold group are - Banana Custard and other large flowered hybrids? Tend to avoid. Most of the verbascums are fairly short lived...although v.nigrum is reliably longer lived...and some of them do have an extended bloom period. I do like the looser form of v.blattarium and virgatum...and plan to intersperse them with stipa gigantea, euphorbia polychroma, umbellifers and penstemons...along with the monstrous roses which have finally overtaken the allotment.

I do find our native Verbascum thapsus to be a noble beast and quite enjoy it in the fields (I am rural) It has snuck into the garden on occasion but I pull it before it goes to seed.

While maxing out at about 2 ft. Verbascum 'Raspberry Ripple' has been a long lived fixture in my garden. It's foliage is in good proportion to the plant and not bothered by pests. If deadheaded (or not) it reblooms and is much loved by bees.

Ohhh I need some too!!

The Cotswold group - as is the Southern Charm series - are hybrid verbascum, bred primarily for their very appealing flower colors. They tend to be of pretty mixed parentage, including V. chaixii, phonecium and blattaria.

Peren.all, I love the structure in your garden!! Just beautiful. How long did it take for your archways to age to that wonderful silver gray? I'm running short of patience in letting a picket fence age, and just about ready to paint it while the roses on it are still small enough to paint around. Apologies for going off topic for a sec.

Thank you flowersaremusic! My DH and I built it in 2003 and by 2006 it had really started to take on the silvery hue.

lol just imagine the upkeep of a painted fence and that should help with the waiting game!

Oooh, I had quite forgotten those smaller verbascums (I think I grew 'Jackie' at one time). Is that rather airy pink clump a soapwort or silene, perennial fan. I came across a large clump of saponaria in late July - completely unfazed by the atrociously hot and dry weather...so liberated a few stems. Have never grown it before (yet more pink and even a bit of a thug) but the stems rooted quick smart so I have 10 or so plantlets to pop along one of the woody banks.

I like the low mounds and mannerly forms in your garden, perennial - have been striving to achieve this in my gravel garden but unfortunately, the larger taller thugs have hijacked any sense of hummocky calm (resulting in an untidy mess as usual).

I have been so happy with the longevity of 'Raspberry Ripple'. I grew 'Helen Johnson' and like 'Jackie' they are both reported to be short lived. That was certainly my experience.

The airy pink is Penstemon glaber, one of the few I can grow here, and thank goodness because it is a real charmer. P. 'Husker's Red' is the other that thrives in my zone.

Thanks Campanula but my garden gets a little crazy too. Behind and to the left of the Verbascum is Sanguisorba obtusa and it has to be brought under control since it is nearly swamping a couple of the V.

The bigger problem is the Sanguisorba tenuifolia seeding all over. It is a good thing that I am endlessly amused by their dangling catkins of great height. I am a fan of all the Sanguisorba but I wish they were all as well behaved as S. officinalis 'Tanna' and S. obtusa 'Alba'

I added S. 'Pink Tanna' a few years ago and it is a massive reseeder.

Since planting a few Verbascum nigrum some years ago, they are always here -- self-seed prolifically-but-not-obnoxiously and survive and bloom even away from the irrigation lines. The bees adore them -- they have a distinctive bright orange pollen and it seems like every bee in the yard is carrying that pollen when they are in bloom.

Peren.all, I guess I can wait it out. An aging, chippy white picket fence wouldn't bother me at all, but would drive my husband crazy. I hope ours ages as nicely as yours.

I love verbascum but they hate my heavy soil and most either rot during a wet spell or only last a year or so.

v atroviolaceum looks strangely happy though, in spite of all the rains we’ve had this summer. I’m sure it’s just toying with me.

i start seedlings of of v bombiciferum each spring or summer, it’s my favorite and sometimes they get a decent size before abruptly dying.

I am trying v.pulverulentum (another hoary=leaved monster)...and have fond memories of v.olympicum. Have not grown Bombyciferum and actively avoiding v.thapsus. My recollection is that this genus is quite promiscuous with a fair bit of hybridising...so I will look forward to the results of verbascum year. It is a rare Brit native which is the most unknown (to me) so the large flowered twiggy mullein, v.virgatum will be watched with interest. The impermanence of these plants is actually quite a plus...and any plants which do well for bees are always top of my lists, these days.

V. thapsus is NOT native to the US. It is called "cowboy toilet Paper " and that is why it was spread everywhere out west . Settlers planted it EVERYWHERE to have it handy , and now it just plants itself. God knows, I have used it when I found it out on hikes.

Peren.all, Verbascum thapsis is not one of our natives. Hilarious, people keep an alien plant around because they like it, then it naturalizes, or should I say invades, and then they start proclaiming it to be one of our natives.

Oh, we Brits do this all the time. Glaciation and geological separation from continental Europe left us with a depleted catalogue of flora and fauna...but our imperial misadventures and our own history of colonisation has ensured a much richer diversity. A somewhat woolly and ahistorical selective memory has enabled us to make all sorts of claims regarding provenance...but to be fair, the less defined concept of 'naturalising' has had more impact than a native plant movement...and given our lack of true natives, just as well.

Yes Jay, a momentary lapse in memory. I did have that knowledge in me but it got lost somewhere along the way. Easy to do when a plant has become so common for so long.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It's so common, people often forget it's not native. I was thinking that determining which U.K. plants are native, would present a headache because of it's long history of colonization.

I have this ordinary yellow one and the birds love the seeds all winter and spring. So, they don’t eat enough seeds and verbascum are happily seeding at will. I had some other lovely colors grown by seed that didn’t like it here beyond 3 or so floppy years. (Sorry, I don’t know specific names )