Ely Street Poet - Monkey Wards

Ely Street Poet

I’ve been growing this mullein (Verbascum thapsus) plant out back of my garage. It has soft gray-green leaves that are usually covered with a light dusting of gravel. These plants seem to thrive near roadsides or in this case, alleys. I don’t water it, I just trim around it. I leave it to the sun and the traffic and I leave it alone except for the patch of milkweed that has finally cropped up where I planted it years ago.

Anyway, this summer, the mullein is now seven feet tall and growing with six or seven healthy, thick yellow spikes of flowers. They stand tall and blow in the wind like a flag.