Rarely do we see verbascums, perhaps because these stout-hearted plants prefer growing under stressful conditions - along dusty country roads or highways - rather than in the lap of luxury. Give them full sun, a lean soil and sharp drainage and they will surprise.

The common name for verbascum is mullein. You can find naturalized versions across North America, as they readily populate sunny, open spots in places most perennials won't flourish.

This does not mean that mulleins don't make excellent garden plants. The spiky plants are beautiful mid-summer-flowering biennials or perennials.

The flower spikes - 3 to 5 feet tall - emerge from a basal rosette that can be from several inches wide to more than a yard across. The leaves forming the rosettes are often a pale silver or an ash-green with a texture like flannel. Ordinarily, the flowers are yellow or white, but hybridists have created a host of other shades that can be found in V. phoeniceum: soft purples, cloudy blues, pale salmon and red.

Other hybrids include "Southern Charm," a great cut flower mixture of lavender, creamy buff, apricot and dusky rose; Phoeniceum, an old variety with rose to pink blooms; and "Cotswold Beauty," with cinnamon to amber-colored blooms.

Verbascums are more suitable, I feel, in a cottage-style arrangement than a formal border. In a neglected, sunny corner of the garden, with stony soil and good drainage, plant a few seeds. Once there, mulleins are apt to colonize, and will shine for years.

Contact Tim Morehouse by Web site: www.getmoregarden.com; mail: c/o Cincinnati Enquirer. (Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.)