Herb That Beautifies and Heals - Great Mullein

In short: Great mullein (Verbascum densiflorum) is an undemanding biennial for dry, stony, well-drained soil. Sow in early April; seeds germinate at 20 °C. Plant out after 15 May and move plants with four leaves to 60 x 45 cm spacing. It forms a leaf rosette in the first year and flowers from May to September.

Great Mullein (Latin: Verbascum densiflorum) is a medicinal herb from the figwort family. With its height and bright yellow flowers, it's impossible to overlook in the garden. Due to its appearance, it has gained several nicknames, including Aaron's rod, torch flower, velvet plant, and many others. Mullein is a biennial plant. Its flowering stem can reach up to 2m in height. The flowers growing along the sides of the stem are 3-5 cm in diameter. They are bright yellow in color. Mullein leaves are sessile, alternate, with lanceolate to oblong blades. In the first year, Mullein forms a basal rosette of densely hairy, crenate, oblong leaves that typically persist through winter. The following spring, Mullein produces an upright flowering felted stem from its taproot. Mullein blooms from May to September.

Great Mullein is a common plant in the Czech Republic. It blooms on waste ground, along old walls, on slopes, on railway platforms, in abandoned quarries, and in clearings. It therefore thrives in soils poor in moisture and nutrients. In stony, gravelly, and sloping soils. The soil pH suitable for growing Mullein is alkaline to neutral. Mullein is also widespread in central and southern Europe, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Caucasus.

The fruit of mullein is a capsule with a large number of brown seeds. Warning! - the seeds of this plant are highly poisonous! However, the plant reproduces very well by self-seeding. Sowing is suitable for locations with bare soil. It's useful for beekeepers who collect Mullein seeds and sow them near apiaries. Mullein provides honey pasture for bees for a quarter of the year. In earlier times, it was used as fish feed.

Growing Great Mullein

Mullein is a solitary plant. It will beautifully fill spaces in your garden where other plants don't thrive well.

Sow Mullein seeds in early April in loosened and smoothed soil that you've cleared of weeds. Place the seeds on the prepared soil and lightly cover them. If you prefer to pre-grow Mullein seeds, this is of course possible in a cold frame or at home in a ventilated mini greenhouse. Mullein germinates at 20°C. You can plant grown seedlings outdoors after May 15th at 3x3 cm spacing. Once the plants have grown to have 4 leaves, they need to be transplanted to their permanent location at 60x45 cm spacing. The ideal soil for growing Mullein is drier, doesn't need to be rich in nutrients, rather stony. This means well-draining soil.

In the first year, Common Mullein establishes a proper root system and forms a rosette of leaves. Mullein doesn't need fertilizing, and while it appears you don't need to care for it at all, it's good to hoe around it and loosen the soil. Mullein blooms from May to September. If you're growing it for flowers to harvest, it's advisable to cut it back to 50-80 centimeters in height. This will support flower production. Mullein will develop more lateral stems.

It may happen that some of the developing Mullein plants don't survive winter and frosts damage or kill them. Dig up these plants and add them to compost. Plant new ones in their place. Also, the centers of Mullein plants may appear moldy - this is an infestation by caterpillars and you need to uncover these centers and remove the caterpillars. These caterpillars won't harm the Mullein significantly, but they may eat small leaves and damage the plant.

Ancient physicians already knew that Common Mullein was a useful herb. They recommended a decoction from dried flowers against cough, hoarseness, and bronchitis. We harvest flowers for these purposes from May to September. We collect the flowers - corollas with stamens, without the calyx. After opening, the flowers are easily removed from the calyx. Mullein flowers bloom very briefly, you need to catch the right moment, or pick the flowering stems gradually. The flowers open in the morning and already drop by noon. We therefore recommend collecting fresh flowers for drying every day. Return to each plant several times daily. The most suitable time for harvesting is late afternoon on a sunny, dry day. Don't collect already dropping flowers, which turn brown during drying and degrade the entire batch. Mullein flower is among the most difficult raw materials to process. For consumer use, we must carefully pluck each picked flower into a basket and protect it from crushing. To obtain truly quality plant parts, we dry the flowers within one day, evenly spread out, preferably on a screen, in daylight sun, or under artificial heat up to 60°C. Properly treated dried flowers have a golden-yellow color, smell like honey, and taste sweetish-mucilaginous. If the dried herb meets these quality parameters, we can seal it in bags designed for storing herbs.

Tea from mullein flowers helps treat cough and colds, and bronchitis. It creates a protective coating on the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract, protecting it from drying out, and saponins and flavonoids help dissolve phlegm. It has anti-inflammatory effects. It also benefits liver, spleen, and thymus function, has diuretic effects, and relieves spasms.

Drink the strained decoction or tea several times daily, when acutely needed. The tea must always be carefully strained because the flowers are covered with hairs that unpleasantly irritate the mucous membrane. Long-term drinking is not advisable. This decoction can also be used externally as compresses - for rheumatism, leg ulcers, or hemorrhoids.

Mullein flowers are also used for their honey-like taste and color to improve the appearance of tea blends and for flavoring liqueurs.

"Wake up little seed, holala" - this is perhaps the most famous song from the Czech bedtime story about Křemílek and Vochomůrka. Who wouldn't know it, when Křemílek and Vochomůrka planted a Mullein seed and waited for Violet. Mullein will fill your garden with fragrance and light.

Author: Hana Michalíková