Posts Tagged "mullein"

Mullein: Yellow Lights

Posted by on Jul 1, 2013 in flowers, leaves, plant parts, summer, Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

Mullein: Yellow Lights

Cruising along Route 81 in Virginia, and I just had to pull over to take a look at these yellow stalks. I have never seen such gorgeous mullein plants. Common mullein is an odd wildflower, like a fencepost sticking straight up out of the ground. Little yellow flowers bloom up and down the stalk, each individual flower opening for only one day. At least at home in upstate New York the flowers are little, but here in the sunny south they’re the size of roses. They’re not a native plant, but not generally invasive. They love dry open ground where nothing else is growing, and can’t...

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Common Mullein: The Vertical Garden

Posted by on Nov 18, 2012 in adaptations, fall, plant parts, Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

The Schoharie Creek, at the bridge in Burtonsville, NY. So mild-mannered now, a calm little rural river minding its own business. But every now and then this quiet stream goes berserk and floods like crazy, toppling trees and destroying houses. They built this new bridge high for a reason. Anyway, here’s the old bridge, or at least the remains of it. I’m not sure if it washed away in a flood many years ago, or if it was dismantled when they build the new bridge. But the remnants of the stonework have become a really interesting place to look for plants. A vertical garden. The...

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