Verbascum nigrum var album
WHITE VELVET MULLEIN
Verbascum nigrum var album is the beautiful white form of the more common Dark Mullein (usually yellow).
Silken white & pink velvet
But instead this treasure has flowers of snow white silken petals, with pink velvet centres, and woolly grey-green handsome foliage rosettes.
Altogether this is a beautiful plant, and so robust to grow.
Slender & gracious spires
Slender, gracious flower spikes rise 1m. high, above the evergreen woolly foliage rosette, which remains close to the ground.
So the Velvet Mullein is a good way to get height into the garden without taking up too much room sideways.
The flower spires are elegantly branched like candelabras, and the blossoms packed into dense, long heads.
Long blooming & long lived
White Velvet Mullein is spectacular in flower during late spring and early summer.
Then if you chop off the spent spires it will be back in bloom again within weeks and continue right through the summer.
Unlike many other Verbasums, this one is a long lived perennial, so your clump will be with you for years.
Hot dry & frost hardy
Verbascum nigrum var album is very hardy plant, ideal for Australian gardens with hot, dry summers and frosty winters. Or where water is limited.
So it is well able to take periods of drought and heat in it’s stride.
And is soundly frost tolerant, even in hard frosts.
Happily it prefers sandy, gravel or poorer soils and anything with good drainage.
And without too much fertilizer for best flowering.
So it revels on sun-baked stony slopes or in sandy soils by the sea.
The flower spires are on stout strong stems and not at all prone to blow over.
Friendly to bees but not to rabbits & deer
Bees, butterflies and our other useful pollinating friends just adore the nectar-rich flowers.
Though happily rabbits and deer are not attracted to the taste.
1m. High in branched candelabras of white blooms with pink velvet centres x 40cm. Wide rosette of woolly foliage.
SEED SOWING ADVICE: QUICK & EASY
Suitable for beginners & gardening with kids
Sow all year in punnets indoors / scatter in the garden in spring or autumn.
INDOORS: First sow the seeds in a punnet on the surface of good quality seed raising mix.
Then pat gently to the surface to ensure good contact.
Now barely cover the seed with sieved mix / vermiculite / or fine sandy grit.
Because these seeds need light to germinate, so do not bury them.
Now thoroughly moisten the sown punnet by standing in a shallow water bath.
And allowing the moisture to percolate up to the surface from below.
Then place the punnet in a warm, well-lit position (not in direct sun).
You can use a heat mat if you have one, or a warm window sill (out of the sun).
Temperatures of 15-20C approx. are best for rapid and optimum germination.
Continue to keep moist by misting from a spray water bottle as required.
Covering the punnet with a clear plastic lid helps top conserve moisture.
Seedlings emerge in approx. 7-21 days.
SEED COUNT: 400 seeds per pack approx.
(We always aim to exceed the stated seed count and give a generous serve).
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