What is this unexpected giant?

QA friend would like to know what this plant is called. It appeared in the garden for the first time this year. John Pearey, via email

AThe plant is a mullein (verbascum). Given that it has appeared from nowhere, it is more likely to be one of the wild species than a more desirable cultivated variety, but nevertheless these are attractive plants.

I suspect it is most likely to be great mullein (Verbascum thapsus). A quick search of the internet should confirm this, or give you enough clues to be able to get the correct species name.

Most verbascums are biennial and form a large rosette of leaves in their first season, then flower the following summer. The flower spike is tremendously tall and reaches

6ft (1.8m) in some species.

The flowers are white, cream or yellow in the wild species, though the cultivated forms include peach, pink, maroon and orange.

They make fine statuesque plants, but are inclined to seed themselves prolifically, and the rosette can be very hard to dig up when it gets to this size.

However, having flowered and set seed the parent plant will die and this should make it easier to dig up at some point.