You don't want mullein growing on your property, garden, or field. If you see these, cut and bag the blooms and remove the plant from the soil. The bagged blooms should be disposed of in your trash (do not compost them).
Common mullein is not a native species and is highly invasive - a single mullein will spread 100,000 to 180,000 seeds. It threatens meadows and forest glades and is very difficult to eradicate. The seeds are considered poisonous.
Ideas for removing mullein:
- Sparse populations can be removed one by one with a spade/shovel; scan for newly emerging mullein religiously and continue to dig out when spotted.
- Pulls out easily if small and not yet fully established (start looking for their fuzzy-rosette of leaves in early June)
- Some report that Roundup also works well, but can affect nearby plants