Solved Is this mullein?

Spotted this on a bit of scrap land, first thoughts were foxglove but the flowers didn't seem right so had a look on tinternet and mullein seems about right, something I've not seen before.

 

yep one of the vebascums / mulliens

 

Yes its the same as i have like you at first i did not know for sure as it just appeared in the garden the birds must have dropped the seed in fact i have two

 

A beautiful plant and well worth saving some seeds as they grow easy enough.

 

Ageed...Verbascum thapsus...common name Great mullion.

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A striking and interesting plant. In Finnish it has several somewhat indelicate common names referring to the erect, thick flower and apparently the seeds are useful in stunning fish (if that's the kind of a thing one desires). My grandmother refused to discuss the plant that occasionally popped up in her border (possibly due to the common name), but never dug it out as it is in fact a rather handsome plant.

From wiki:

Roman soldiers are said to have dipped the plant stalks in grease for use as torches. Other cultures use the leaves as wicks.[81] Native Americans and American colonists lined their shoes with leaves from the plant to keep out the cold.[81][31][76]

Mullein may be cultivated as an ornamental plant.[1] As for many plants, (Pliny the Elder described it in his Naturalis Historia),[note 5] great mullein was linked to witches,[31] although the relationship remained generally ambiguous, and the plant was also widely held to ward off curses and evil spirits.[31][54][75][76] The seeds contain several compounds (saponins, glycosides, coumarin, rotenone) that are toxic to fish, and have been widely used as piscicide for fishing.[9][83]

 

Only when growing in front of a window does it become a mullion.