Verbascum chaixii

Perennial of the Scrophulariaceae family, this mullein is native to Central and Southern Europe, from the Balkans to the Iberian Peninsula, growing on dry hillsides, edges of clear forests, rocky slopes, and lean meadows, in full sun or light partial shade. It is one of the few truly perennial mulleins, a characteristic that clearly distinguishes it from most of its biennial congeners.

It forms a basal rosette of oval-lanceolate, slightly tomentose leaves, of a grayish-green, from which several erect and branched stems rise each year, reaching 80 to 100 cm. These stems bear dense and very abundant spikes of golden yellow flowers with a purplish center, this color detail at the heart of the flower being one of the most distinctive features of the species among yellow-flowered mulleins.

In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from June to August; in cultivation, it generally occurs from June to July, with a possible resurgence if the stems are cut back after the first flowering.

It requires well-drained soil, even poor, in full sun. Hardy and undemanding, it reseeds moderately without becoming invasive, and its longevity makes it a real asset for dry beds and gravel gardens.