Teasel is biennial. It makes a rosette of leaves one year and a fierce, prickly, tall plant the next year. It seeds freely and can become a nuisance in some gardens and bob up here there and everywhere. If you can find plugs of this plant by all means try. Try a packet of seeds and see what happens. My teasels came from a packet of wildflower seeds.

Thank you Dorjac - possibly should have said that I live north of Aberdeen in quite a rural spot. I've had a couple of teasel plants in the garden but haven't seen evidence of them spreading as yet hence my reason for wanting to grow more. I was given 5 little plants in 2010 that I planted out as rosettes last year - they are looking healthy at the moment so I hope they'll come good this year. I'd still like more to plant along the road verge - sounds like I'm going to have to practice patience - not something I have in great abundance!

Montee make sure you only plant native plants along the verge there is, if I remember correctly, a new law which states you can be fined for allowing non-native species to escape from your garden so if you intentionally planted non-native species on the verge there could be a problem.

From my experience, if a plant, wild or cultivated, is happy with its placing it will thrive and spread. There was a bank near a canal we had a barge ride on. I have never seen cowslips so thickly covering this bank. Try taking the heads off teasels when seeds are ripe, and put them where you want them to grow. It works with alliums in my garden.