Anyone recognise this plant?

[grey12]

DMIL has a coulle of these plants growing in her garden. She thinks it's one I bought for her years ago from the Eden Project. It kind of died and disappeared for a while and came back by itself in these pots 🤷🏻‍♀️

We don't remember the name of it. I do remember it gets biggish (close to 2m?) and needed cover in the winter. It's supposed to flower every 2 years, I think?

Thank you 🙂

Verbascum. Biennial and about 2m ish so you were right 😁

Wow thanks!!! 😃

Verbascum thapsus. Shouldn’t need winter cover, mine don’t in Yorkshire. It’s a biennial, so spends the first year developing roots and a rosette of leaves, then in the second year throws up a flower spike and then dies. It seeds prolifically which is why it seems to “come back by itself” after dying.

It flowers only once, but if you start with a single plant, it will take two years for the seedlings to appear and grow to maturity.

common name Mullein. Food plant for the caterpillar of the Mullein moth.