Suddenly Seymour...

And now, for an update on previous posts, we turn to Leslie Langtry, who, just minutes before was standing next to this plant in her back yard!

By the way, my husband accidentally cut the top off the stalk in the photo - yes Virginia, it really is longer now.

Well, the mystery is solved. Having dinner last night with friends Faye and Kay, Faye told me what this plant is. May I have a drumroll please? Um, a drumroll? HELLO! Oh, whatever.

This is the Great Mullein plant! Ta-da! Aren't you impressed? Originally native to Europe and Asia, the Great Mullein was brought to the U.S. in the 1700's as a medicinal herb for humans, but can also paralyze fish and give rats Parkinson's. How much would you pay? $25? 50? But wait! There's more!

I guess it prefers sandy, loose soil, and full sun - which is weird because it is growing in full shade, between a couple of boulders in midwestern common dirt. Go figure.

It's a two year plant and now that I think of it, we thought it was a hosta last year. In the second year it can shoot up to 10 feet tall, releases it's flowers and dies. Cool huh? And get this, it can cause internal bleeding in humans if 20 pounds or so of the seeds are ingested.

That made me smile. At least it's somewhat fatal. How fitting it should grow in my yard.

I've decided to name it Seymour.

The Assassin