Not long after we arrived in this place I noticed these impressive plants growing wild on the scrappy bit of land we use for parking. When they went to seed I sowed some in the garden.

Thing is, last year they grew healthy but dense and close to the ground, now they're 7 feet tall! Turns out that this Verbascum is a biannual; next year there'll be nothing.

Stored well enough, half of this year's seeds should still be good for 2014. Green fingers crossed, we'll eventually have tall AND short plants simultaneously.