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Verbascum 'Banana Custard'

Verbascum x hybrida Banana Custard
Hybrid Mullein

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More information

With a bright colour and soft silver foliage, this summer flowering plant will illuminate your flower beds with its upright spikes, while also attracting pollinators. Its creamy to banana shade will also add colour to your interiors, thanks to its grandiose bouquets.
Flower size
4 cm
Height at maturity
1.60 m
Exposure
Sun
Annual / Perennial
Perennial
Germination time (days)
20 days
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Sowing period March to April
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Flowering time June to August
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Description

Verbascum x hybrida 'Banana Custard', also known as Mullein, is a biennial flowering plant. Its tall spikes composed of numerous small yellow flowers ranging from cream to banana, bloom from June to August attracting butterflies and other pollinators. Its silvery and velvety foliage perfectly complements the hues of its flowers, illuminating dark spaces. Essential in herbaceous borders, it allows you to create rather spectacular bouquets.

Most Verbascums share this tall and graceful appearance. Some are even nicknamed "Our Lady's Candle" in honor of the Virgin Mary. They have a base composed of a rosette of large elliptical leaves, about 30cm (12in) long, grey-green in colour, and velvety for the 'Banana Custard' variety. From this base emerge stems that can reach up to 180cm (71in) in height. They end in a long spike, covered in small 4cm (2in) flowers with a five-petalled corolla and five yellow stamens in the centre, which do not all bloom at the same time, creating layers. This height sometimes requires staking if the mulleins are exposed to wind. It is a summer plant that appreciates well-drained soil and does not tolerate excess moisture in winter. On the other hand, it withstands drought well and therefore prefers sunny locations, accepts rocky and poor soils, while tolerating partial shade. For a possible flowering in early autumn, you can cut back the stems with faded spikes. Like biennials, let it self-seed in late summer, you may find it again the following year.

The 'Banana Custard' Mullein naturally blends in with other summer plants with silvery foliage: Eryngium, shrubby Euphorbia, and Statice. You can also let it brighten up a slope or a rather dry fallow land that you have abandoned. It will bring all its light to it.

Flowering

Flower colour yellow
Flowering time June to August
Inflorescence Spike
Flower size 4 cm
Bee-friendly Attracts pollinators
Good for cut flowers Cut flower blooms

Foliage

Foliage persistence Evergreen
Foliage colour green

Plant habit

Height at maturity 1.60 m
Spread at maturity 40 cm
Growth rate normal

Botanical data

Genus

Verbascum

Species

x hybrida

Cultivar

Banana Custard

Family

Schrophulariaceae

Other common names

Hybrid Mullein

Origin

Cultivar or hybrid

Product reference14181

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Planting and care

Verbascum 'Banana Custard' can be sown in summer, like biennials. The seeds will prefer temperatures between 15 and 18 °C, so you can sow them outdoors or under a properly ventilated shelter. They will germinate between 14 and 30 days, depending on the conditions.

Sow in a tray or pots filled with potting soil mixed with a little sand or vermiculite, cover with a light layer of substrate (1 to 2mm) and keep it moist without soaking it. When the plants are large enough to be moved, you can either place them in larger buckets and keep them under shelter for the winter. You can then plant them in the ground in spring (February-March).

Alternatively, if your region does not experience intense frosts, you can plant them directly in the ground (in October) as soon as they reach about ten centimetres.

Always make sure to place them in well-drained soil, even dry soil, and preferably in full sun. If you want to let them self-seed, do not cut the faded stems at the end of summer.

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Sowing period

Sowing period March to April
Germination time (days) 20 days

Intended location

Suitable for Meadow, Rockery
Type of use Back of border, Free-standing, Slope
Hardiness Hardy down to -29°C (USDA zone 5) Show map
Ease of cultivation Beginner
Exposure Sun
Soil pH Neutral, Calcareous, Any
Soil moisture all types, Dry soil, Prefer a well-drained substrate.

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