VERBASCUM 245 



Verbas'cum — cMntinued. 



The Mulleins are exceedingly handsome plants, 

 and most of the species are, when well gi'own, as 

 stately and tall as the Hollyhock. The boldness 

 of a group of these plants should be seen to be 

 appreciated, and in a wild garden with a dark 

 background look most striking. They are also 

 most effective at the back of the border with such 

 things as Hollyhocks, Foxgloves, and Delphiniums. 

 Another way to utilise them is on a loose stone 

 retaining wall or the summit of a rockery, for, like 

 the Foxglove and Snapdragon, it is quite at home 

 in such quarters. The branched spikes of bloom 

 are heavily laden with hundreds of flowers. The 

 larger kinds require plenty of room, and 3 ft. apart 

 is not too much. With the exception of V. 

 Boerhaa'm, which is annual, all those mentioned 

 here are of biennial duration. 



V. Boerhaa'm, 2 ft. high, is a yellow flowered 

 species from S. Europe, 1731. 



V. Caledonia is a distinct hybrid plant with buff 

 flowers suffused with crimson. June to 

 August. 



V. longifo'Uum, 3 ft. high, with yellow flowers, is 

 a Neapolitan species. 1824. 



V. lyra'tum. See Celsia cj'etica, 



V. olym'pkum. This is one of the grandest of the 

 family, a truly noble plant, attaining 6 to 10 

 ft., with enormous spikes of sulphur flowers, 

 the silvery woolly foliage forming a large 



