Description of the 10 best varieties of perennial verbascum, growing from seeds

The perennial plant verbascum is most often grown as a biennial crop. The flower looks like a spikelet and becomes a chic garden decoration. Mullein successfully takes root in gardens in the countries of the former USSR, and is not picky about soil or care. There are many varieties of perennial verbascum; for successful cultivation it is worth familiarizing yourself with all the agrotechnical features.

Botanical features of mullein

Verbascum has a tap root system that penetrates deep into the ground. The stems are erect and grow from 50 to 2 meters in height. The leaves are oblong, with a pointed tip, leathery surface, and dark green color. The inflorescences are spike-shaped, the flowers have five petals, and are yellow, pinkish, lilac, violet.

They bloom from bottom to top, each corolla opens in the morning, and in the evening it closes and falls off. The next day, a new one is formed. The fruit is an oval capsule with seeds. Fluffy inflorescences bloom all summer long. In wild conditions, the culture grows in the Mediterranean and subtropical zones of Asia. The plant tolerates drought and sudden changes in weather. Once pollen is complete, the stem withers completely.

Placement of verbascum in the garden and use in decoration

To decorate the garden, verbascum is placed in front of the house or along the fence, in a mixborder. You can plant a flower on the lawn. Low-growing flowers are suitable for planting in the middle ground, and super low-growing mullein are suitable for containers. Violet verbascum is widely used with hybrids; its bright shade becomes contrasting when planted in parallel with orange or yellow flowers.

Healing properties of mullein

Verbascum is part of many medicines with antitussive and expectorant effects. The mixture helps with colds, flu, bronchitis, and whooping cough. The plant has an anti-inflammatory effect and is widely used in the treatment of inflammatory pathologies of the oropharynx, stomach, and urinary tract.

Mullein effectively eliminates the consequences of bruises. Applying a fresh flower to the affected area relieves pain and prevents the appearance of bruises. If a bruise does appear, under the influence of verbascum, it will resolve in 2-3 hours.

When using dried flowers soaked in water to create a compress, first remove the stamens and hairs. They can cause skin irritation.

Varieties and varieties of webrascum with description

There are 250 species of mullein, but the following varieties are cultivated in the CIS countries. They differ from each other in color and bush height.

Scepter-shaped

The plant reaches 2 meters in height. The inflorescences are large, yellow in color. The flowers are spike-shaped, bloom in packs of 3-4 pieces.

Silkweed verbascum

The bush grows up to 1.8 meters. The flowers are pale yellow. Due to the felt pubescence, the leaves are silvery in color.

Hybrid

The hybrid combines beautifully flowering species and garden forms of different origins. Color: white, yellowish, pinkish, salmon, pinkish-yellow. Often the petals are decorated with purple dots. A mixture of colors and gradient-type colors are widely found.

Common Mullein or Bear's Ear

Bear's ear is distinguished by the presence of a mass of hairs of a metallic tone on the leaves. The flowers are short, small, the entire stem is leafy. The color of the petals is yellow, pinkish, lavender.

Dark or mullein cockroaches

Black mullein is heavily pubescent and grows up to 1 meter tall.The egg- or heart-shaped leaves are interspersed with inflorescences, which is a distinctive feature of this variety. The buds are yellowish, long, the base of the petals is brown, the stamens have a purple fluff. Medicinal verbascum has a profusely leafy stem up to 0.5 meters high. Peduncles are branched, long, spike-shaped.

Olympic

Verbascum reaches 1.5-2 meters in height. The inflorescences are sunny yellow. The leaves are silver in color due to pubescence.

Purple verbascum

The plant reaches 1 meter in height. The stems are erect, the leaves are elongated, lanceolate, collected in a basal rosette, there are few of them on the stem and they are often without pubescence. The inflorescences are bright crimson, pinkish, on long stalks, collected in loose buds like a spike. Pollen falls in mid-summer. Purple mullein is winter-hardy.

longleaf

Verbascum forms a bush 70-120 cm high. The leaf rosette is large, covered with gray felt pubescence. The inflorescences are golden-yellow, 3 cm in diameter, collected in a branching tassel up to 30 cm long. The filaments are staminate, covered with short purple hairs.

Nettleleaf or She's Mullein

The bushes grow up to 90 cm tall. The flowers are yellow, the stamens are red-violet.

Waterfall

Mullein Waterfall reaches 1 meter in height. The diameter of the inflorescence is 4 cm, lilac and pale lavender in color.

Conditions of detention

Caring for verbascum is not difficult; the plant is perfect even for summer residents. It is necessary to water it in time, fertilize it, replant it, and cover it for the winter.

Preparing for landing

Verbascum should be planted in March-April. The seeds can withstand cold weather. The soil is dug up, leveled, seed material is scattered randomly, and covered with a rake no more than 1 cm deep.When seedlings appear, they are thinned out, leaving a distance of 20-50 cm. A deciduous rosette is formed in the first year, pollen begins in the next season.

Deciding on a place to plant verbascum

Mullein prefers to grow in lighted, open areas. You can also plant verbascum in partial shade, then the flowering time will be shorter. The culture grows on any soil except clay and loam. Fertility does not matter for a perennial, and neutral is considered the optimal acidity level.

Preparing the soil and planting material

2 weeks before planting, the soil is loosened, humus and peat are added to it. Before planting, it is important to remove weeds that inhibit the growth of young seedlings. Seedlings do not require preliminary preparation. The main thing is that it is intact, without damage.

Growing the verbascum plant

It is better to plant mullein in a sunny place in March, summer or late August. They use the method of planting from seeds, root or apical petioles.

From seeds

The seeds are planted in the soil 1 cm deep. Afterwards, the beds are watered. No crusts should form on the ground. If the seedlings are too dense, they are broken through, leaving 15 plants per 1 meter.

From root cuttings

Root petioles are planted in late autumn. They are cut 7 cm long, the upper cut is made smooth, the lower cut is made at an angle. Seedlings are planted vertically in containers with nutrient soil - 2 parts of leaf soil, 1 part of sand and peat. Leave 1.5 cm of petiole above the ground. Until spring they are grown in a cool place. When the air temperature rises to +15 degrees, the petioles are planted in the garden.

Apical cuttings

Green petioles are cut in March and rooted in cups with loose soil. They should first be dipped in a solution of Kornevin or Heteroauxin, then planted in separate containers and kept in a lighted room with high humidity of 90%. Every day it is necessary to ventilate and water the seedlings as the soil dries. In August, rooted seedlings are planted in flower beds. Before the arrival of winter, they are hilled up and covered with a layer of foliage of 15-20 cm. In the spring, the snow is removed and the soil is raked.

Watering and fertilizing verbascum

During the first years of life, mullein is watered 3 times during the growing season at the root. Verbascum requires almost no feeding. Poor soils can be fed once during the growing season with complex mineral compounds or organic matter. The procedure is carried out before pollen.

Soil care and replanting verbascum

Mullein does not tolerate transplantation well, due to the special structure of the root system. The roots are too long and difficult to remove from the soil without damage. Verbascum is immediately placed in a permanent place. If necessary, the bushes are dug as deep as possible and the earthen ball is preserved.

Preparing mullein for winter

Each verbascum variety survives winter differently. Species close to wild species easily overwinter without shelter, and hybrids can freeze to death. They should be covered with a thick layer of peat, spruce branches, and dry leaves.

Verbascum propagation methods

Verbascum is propagated by seeds, by dividing the root system. Each of the methods involves its own algorithm of actions.

Seeds

To collect verbascum seed, several viable flower stalks are left. When the boxes are completely ripe, the petals dry out, they are removed, and the seeds are taken out.The seed is dried in the sun, placed on the windowsill. Store the seeds in a dry place in paper bags.

Prepared seeds are sown in the garden in well-warmed soil at the end of May or beginning of June.

The seed is distributed over dug up, compacted and watered soil, sprinkled a little on top. If the seeds are deeply buried, the emerging shoots should be thinned out so that a distance of 20 cm remains between the bushes. Over the course of 1 month, the shoots develop slowly, then they grow actively. During the first season, the young bush only forms a basal rosette of leaves. If you care for verbascum correctly, pollen will begin to bloom 2 years after planting.

The perennial is able to reproduce independently. Not removed peduncles throw out seeds that fall on the soil and germinate there. With this method of propagation, the bushes sprout chaotically; they may not look like the mother plant. After 2-3 years, the variety will degenerate.

Mullein rhizome division

To propagate verbascum by dividing the root, only those specimens are selected on which shoots are visible. They are dug up after pollen in September. The division is carried out with sharply sharpened pruning shears, previously disinfected. On each part there should be several shoots, part of the root, all sections are treated with charcoal.

For better rooting, they are laid out horizontally on sandy soil. Sprinkle the roots of mullein on top with a small amount of sand, then earth. They should be replanted to a permanent location in the spring.