Don't know what kind of hybrid it is, but I ordered it from McFayden several years ago and it didn't do much and didn't come back the next year. To its credit, I didn't plant it in the best place and I don't have the best luck with mail-order plants in general.

It is supposed to be hardy and McFayden is in Brandon, MB so it should be ok. Hope you have better luck than me. It's a really pretty one, nice orange flowers not that I saw them on mine LOL.

Hi Sharon,

Verbascum Helen Johnson is suppose to be a sterile hybrid so IÂm surprised that you received seeds from this cultivar. It is quite a pretty plant with an unusual shade of flowers somewhere between apricot and a light pumpkin orange. I had it about 3 years ago and unfortunately, I lost some of the plants. I believe that only the plants that had bloomed profusely died that year but those that had formed rosettes were still alive the following spring. I am under the impression that many of these new hybrid Verbascums are in fact, short-lived perennials even in milder climates. IÂve heard that if you divide the rosettes in August, the plants may be longer lived. But at best, most Verbascum hybrids live for about 2 years.

V. Helen Johnson was discovered at Kew Gardens in England garden and it is believed to be a complex cross between V. thapsus , V. lychnitis and V. phoenicum.

Hope that info helps.

Marilena

'Helen Johnson' was one of the original V. phoenicium cultivars that I started with many years ago - and assuming it was labelled correctly (which it appeared to be) I can guarantee it is not sterile! Totally hardy and totally perennial here, as are the other species and cultivars I've grown. The 'Gardens North' catalogue used to have commentary that said that verbascums that are short-lived or biennial in warmer zones, have been observed to be perennial in colder zones - I've certainly found that to be true. I still have the original V. nigrum plants that I grew from seed about 7 years ago.

Thanks gals for your experiences and comments, I'll give them a try then ;)