By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

On Wednesday I wrote about one of garden guru Jan Smithen's favorite perennials, Salvia `Anthony Parker.'  Today's post is about another one of her favorites, Verbascum chaixii, which also happens to be a great companion for `Anthony Parker.' 

All mulleins have a habit that is convenient for smaller gardens.  They start out as modest rosettes that grow close to the ground, and then, when they bloom, put up tall spikes closely set with nearly flat, five-petaled, circular flowers.  For the amount of space they occupy, they put on a remarkable show.

One of the things Smithen likes about V. chaixii is that it is especially small in its footprint--only about 18 inches wide--which makes it easy to fit in among other perennials.  (When it is in bloom in the summer the plant will be 3 to 4 feet tall.)

The V. chaixii species has pale yellow flowers with purple filaments.  The white variety, `Album', shown here, has white flowers with purple eyes.  Both the species and `Album' are very drought-tolerant once established, says Smithen.  Both plants reseed lightly, she says, and you'll find the second-generation, self-sown plants even more drought tolerant than the first.

If you don't find V. chaixii at your local nursery, you can mail order `Album' from Annie's Annuals and Perennials.

Annie's Annuals also supplied this photo.