Mullein
Verbascum chaixii
Also called Verbascum, Nettle-leaved mullein and Gainsborough
Garden plant · PerennialsExpect the mullein moth: fat black-and-yellow caterpillars that can strip a spire in three days. They are worth tolerating — the plant recovers, and picking them off by hand in the evening is the only control that does not also kill the bees on it.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Easy
- Water
- Every 11 daysWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Full sun
- Feed
- Not needed
- Humidity
- Low
- Hardiness
- Hardy — a cold winter RHS H5, to -15°C
- Size
- 0.9 m tall · 0.45 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Southern and central Europe
Is it safe for pets and people?
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Neither the ASPCA catalogue nor the RHS harmful A–Z names this plant, and both were checked. That is an absence and not a clean bill.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-09-22. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Fat caterpillars, white with black and yellow spots, sitting out in the open on the top of the spire — they do not hide, and by the time you notice the chewed flowers there are usually a dozen. A spire can go in three days.Mullein moth caterpillar · pest
- The felted basal paddles go from grey-green to a flat dusty white, the felt being hard to tell from the mildew until the leaf starts to yellow underneath it.Powdery mildew · disease