Thanks to Mary Santello who gathered these seeds for us and provided this description! This species of Mullein is a lovely biennial, or here in Florida, a sometimes annual herbal wildflower and bee attractor. Preferring sun to part shade, she begins as a dense basal rosette of leaves from which grows a towering flower stalk, reaching to 3' or more. The flowering stalk is studded with buds that open successively from top to bottom with sweet, 1-2" diameter yellow flowers with red centers that bees love to visit. Blooming usually begins in mid-late April, and lasts for 3-4 weeks.

The flower stalks may need support when at full height. After blooming is complete, the big, round, green seed pods are quite attractive and add interesting texture and structure to flower arrangements. This Mullein species is easy to propagate and is somewhat drought tolerant, but may need watering in an extended dry period. Wand Mullein is a real show stopper when in full bloom, and like other species of Mullein, has some medicinal properties.

Note that Florida mullein sometimes skips the two-year cycle and does it all in one year. You'll have to watch and see what happens to your plants. I highly recommend collecting seed from this plant in a month or two (when the seed pods get brown/dry) and adding them to your garden. You will always have mullein on hand if you do that!