Okay. I'll move it! It sprung from an eroded area (meaning no bermuda to choke everything else out!). It'll be interesting to find out what sort of mullein it is when mature.

So, you didn't plant it? The only native ones I've seen in my county are the ones with yellow flowers. We used to have some pop up on our place near the bar ditch, but I haven't seen one since before the drought years of 2011-2014.

I got some seeds in a swap, but 2 years now I've lost the seedlings. There are a hand full of things I have bad luck with. Since it's close to being a weed, I don't know what I do wrong. It's supposed to be medicinal.

No ma'am. This is native. I went to a lot of trouble not to mow them down. I need to verify the id, tho. I've never tried growing them myself.

I do know I saw some on an abandoned lot nearby. I walked over and inspected its flower. The next day someone came out and mowed everything down. darn it.

Amy, Be sure you aren't babying the seedlings too much and, in particular, that you aren't watering them too often. Mullein needs sandy, well-drained soil that stays on the dry side, so my best guess is that you're losing them by being too kind to them.

Bon, It should grow back after being mowed down, unless they are regularly mowing so that it keeps getting mowed down before it can make a decent amount of growth. It does make a huge, sort of coarse-looking plant so if what you have is mullein, you'll know it simply by its incredible size.

Dawn

I used to see a couple growing on our road, but haven't noticed any the last year or so. I'll have to take a walk after school's out to scout. I always thought they looked interesting, but didn't know if they would transplant or not. Now I know; the smaller the better to transplant.

Mullein is medicinal. I haven't found any on my property yet--although I have plenty of yarrow and plantain.

A bit of warning though...I'm a big fan of using wild herbs/weeds for medicinal purposes...but they aren't completely benign. I have horrible canker sores from time to time and yarrow has been a great help with the healing of them. Either I use a tincture I made, or just take a leaf from the plant and chew it and place it over the sores as I'm working in the garden, etc. However, I left a leaf in my mouth (during the night as I was sleeping) over a canker sore inside my mouth on my lower lip. It seared all the skin in my lower gum/lip. Scary! It's all white and weird looking now...and peeling.. slightly sore, although I'm happy it healed the canker sore.Just be careful with them.

Sandplum, it's really wonderful isn't it? Medicine growing beside the road!

Hazel, That really is evidence of power. Wow! I think young Yarrow is such a beautiful plant. It comes up in the yard, too, but I've yet to capture any seed for relocation.

Dawn, I will forget and mow it down. that's why I need to move the Mullein. When I'm mowing I often am thinking too hard about pushing forward and out from underneath pain to complete the job and will mow right over my desirables. If I leave it, I would forget it long enough to mow it too many times. I had to place a barrier around my peony. Hopefully, my peony will come back. lol

Speaking of pain, Poppy seed tea is so awesome, but gets expensive. I finally tossed some seeds onto a bed. I have enough time for seed? given the cold weather right now, one ever knows how long our summer will be. So, I'll just grow them and see. Who knows? I might be able to use the plant. Not sure I will, tho.

bon

DH takes medicine that causes his blood to take a long time to clot. Some chewed up yarrow will stop little cuts from bleeding. I am making a yarrow tincture and yarrow oil for salve now. Reminds me I need to make plantain oil for that salve. Then he won't have to put up with my spit when he cuts himself ;)

Bon, You might have time to get poppy seeds. It is hard to say. Most years it would be much too late to expect anything from poppy seeds sown now, but the late cool weather might work to your advantage if it continues long enough. Poppies are cool season flowers that germinate and grow well in cool weather but start burning up quickly once the heat arrives, or at least that is true of the types of poppies I grow. My poppies have been blooming at least a month and should bloom for at least another month, if not longer, as long as I keep deadheading them. They usually start burning up in the heat around Father's Day, though, if not sooner.

I have no experience with poppy seed tea, but remember that author Michael Pollan got in a lot of trouble because of a project of his that involved growing poppies, and making and drinking poppy tea. Of course, he grew opium poppies on purpose to make the tea, and he wrote about it, so he should have been expecting trouble from the DEA and local police. He was sort of led into that adventure after reading about someone else's poppy cultivation that, I suppose, inspired him or aroused his curiosity,

Michael Pollan's Poppy Adventure

Some of our poppies grow down near the bar ditch and sometimes I see a carload of teenagers stop and pick the poppies. When I do, I always shake my head and laugh to myself and say "these are not those kinds of poppies!" If those kids are hoping to get a cheap opium high from those poppies, they are out of luck because the poppies are corn poppies and oriental poppies, not opium poppies.

Amy, There are so many wonderful herbs that are useful in so many ways. It is amazing how wonderful yarrow is, and it grows wild in the fields so there's always plenty of it. My dad was an old school country guy who didn't need salves or tinctures or ointments. When one of us kids (and later on the grandkids) got a scrape, a cut or a scratch, he'd tell us to rub a little dirt on it. I thought he was crazy, but now research shows that gardeners are often healthier than non-gardeners because of exposure to good bacteria in soil, so maybe he knew instinctively way back then what research has found in recent times.

Dawn

Spit! It's the stuff tender loving care is made of!

Dawn, I recall reading his story The guy was nuts and foolish, too. He'd been alright if he hadn't published a "how to" book. Sheesh. I have the right kind of poppy seed. I carefully planted them out of view. I really worry about people around here....

I used to hate when my mother would lick a tissue to wipe dirt off my face. I made my kids stick their own tonges out so they could smell their own spit instead of mine ;) Dawn, there is some evidence kids today have been kept too clean. They don't have the immunities developed when you play in dirt. I think you were lucky, I worked with a guy who's father put turpentine on their boo boos. My DH would have scrubbed all that dirt off with soap and water. I preferred peroxide, but I'm told that is more harmful than we thought.

Bon, I'd be careful with those kinds of poppies too. People with evil intentions might steal your plants if they figured out what they were. Overzealous police officers have been known to go after gardeners growing poppies for the flowers too, not that I'm saying your local police would do that, but some have in the past.

Amy, I agree. I think kids today are over-protected and that their immune systems do not get to develop natural immunity as much as ours did when we were kids.

Bon, Is that supposed to be mullein? To me, there is something familiar looking about the leaves, but common mullein has leaves that are broader than those. Check out the photos in the link.

Common Mullein

Dawn

It looks like my black eyed susan.

Yep. I thot the leaves were kinda slim in comparison, too. They are soft and gently fuzzy. Is there some other plant that is similar? The ground where they are is very hard.

Amy, do any of the blackeyed susans have soft leaves?

I see it now, Amy. Sure does look the same. Well, that's okay with me! I'll put a tire around it and make a wild flower bed.

Rudbeckia hirta

If its already six feet tall its too late to try to move it because they have a long tap root which if damaged will kill the plant best thing to do is let it grow where it is don't crowd it with too many other plants around it