Terrible plant in some places, but I have to admit, the blossoms are pretty.
Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus
September 20, 2010
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Montana Outdoors 
I left some in my flower garden this spring. They look really weedy after they bloom, but the big fuzzy rosettes and the tall flower spikes are very dramatic in the first part of the season.
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Comment by kateri — September 21, 2010 @ 4:19 am
Yes, the young ones are rather pretty, and of course the flowers are. The old big ones though get pretty ugly.
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2010 @ 4:40 pm
they look mischievous. Why are they terrible?
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Comment by burstmode — September 21, 2010 @ 5:00 am
I don’t mind them around this area because they grow rather sparsely, but in some places they will crown out everything else. They get obnoxious in flower beds too because they get pretty wide and crowd out the flowers.
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2010 @ 4:42 pm
They are “terrible”, but you are so right — their blossoms have a charm to them. Maybe it’s that something so ugly can produce such a lovely little flower!
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Comment by Robin — September 21, 2010 @ 6:53 am
Most folks have to overcome a lot of prejudice to look closely at the flowers. Now if you could get the flowers without the rest of the plant you’d have something.
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2010 @ 4:43 pm
Terrible as invasive? What an intriguing looking wildflower as almost like a fly trap of sorts. Yummy, I suppose, for the flower. I just love the details of the yellow petals and furry orange pistils.
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Comment by Anna — September 21, 2010 @ 10:51 am
They are a widespread invasive, worse, I’ve read, in some areas more than others.The adult plant can get 8 feet tall and it’s not pretty at all. The younger stage is quite attractive, or at least I think so.
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2010 @ 4:46 pm
I guess I’ve never thought of them as ugly, though the flower stalks onece they get old aren’t exactly attractive. And I didn’t realize they are invasive, though I know they tend to take over in places where the soil has recently been disturbed (recently logged areas, etc). They are actually a valuable medicinal herb.
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Comment by kateri — September 21, 2010 @ 5:56 pm
Definitely an attention getter whether one considers it an invasive species or not.
Malcolm
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Comment by knightofswords — September 21, 2010 @ 11:15 am
Yes they are! I hope they don’t spread much more in the forests, but with all of the logging and fires, they have a lot of disturbed area to target.
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2010 @ 4:48 pm
Hi Montucky, Very pretty weed. You are correct in that it is sometimes a problem plant.
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Comment by wildlifewatcher — September 21, 2010 @ 2:56 pm
In this immediate area I see a lot of it, but not in concentrations that are a real problem, at least yet, and they often do grow where nothing else would.
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2010 @ 4:49 pm
I saw it when I was out earlier in the summer, but we don’t have it close by. The velvety leaves are pretty. too.
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Comment by sandy — September 21, 2010 @ 4:12 pm
Yes, the new velvet leaves are quite pretty, but they take up a lot of horizontal space. We remove quite a few from the flower beds every year.
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2010 @ 4:50 pm
Another one I’ve never seen…
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Comment by Candace — September 22, 2010 @ 8:48 pm
I recall seeing them somewhere in Arizona, but probably not in the low desert.
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Comment by montucky — September 22, 2010 @ 9:21 pm
So special looking flower. I have never seen it and due to that You had Latin name, I could easily track it. Yes it is found really in Finland.
Here is a link to it:
http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/great-mullein
Thank You showing this, so I can in the future “hunt” it in our nature.
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Comment by sartenada — September 23, 2010 @ 11:27 pm
Thank you for the link! That is a very good and informative site! Mullein is not native here but it is widespread.
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Comment by montucky — September 23, 2010 @ 11:51 pm
Thanks for showing how beautiful mullein can be – must say, I’ll look at it differently now!
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Comment by Cait — September 27, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment, Cait! Isn’t it interesting what can be seen in nature by looking closely!
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Comment by montucky — September 27, 2010 @ 10:19 pm
That’s an extraordinary looking plant – it looks almost like it’s been made out of fabric!
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Comment by Val Erde — October 4, 2010 @ 1:37 pm
The photo shows only part of the flower head. The leaves are fairly large and furry, looking like velvet.
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Comment by montucky — October 4, 2010 @ 6:19 pm