Matthiola (Stock): A Fragrant Flower for Garden and Vase

View full-size photo

You can recognise matthiola with your eyes closed: its spicy, clove-like scent fills a room or an evening garden. The name covers two different plants — lush double stock that florists use in bouquets, and the modest-looking night-scented stock that releases its fragrance at dusk. Here is how they differ, how to grow matthiola from seed and how to make it last longer in a vase.

Stock or night-scented stock: two different matthiolas

Matthiola is a genus of the cabbage family. Two species are common in gardens and floristry:

• Hoary stock (Matthiola incana) — dense spikes on stems 30–80 cm tall, often double, in white, cream, pink, lilac, purple or yellow. This is the stock sold as a cut flower.
• Night-scented stock (Matthiola longipetala) — a low plant with small pale-lilac flowers that are barely noticeable by day but open and smell strongly in the evening. It is sown near benches, terraces and windows.

How to grow matthiola from seed

• Stock is sown for seedlings in March. It is cold-hardy: plant it out in April–May; light frosts will not harm it.
• Night-scented stock is sown directly outdoors from April, in several batches 2–3 weeks apart, so the scent lasts all summer.
• Position: sun or light shade, fertile soil without standing water. Avoid fresh manure.
• Flowering: stock from June–July; night-scented stock about 2 months after sowing.

How to get double flowers

Double stocks are sterile and set no seed, so a packet always contains a mix of double and single plants. In selectable varieties, double seedlings can be picked out at the seedling stage: their seed leaves are paler, yellowish green, especially if the seedlings are kept cool for a few days. Dark-green seedlings usually give single flowers. Selection details vary by variety, so check the packet.

View full-size photoStock in a vase and night-scented stock in the garden — two types of matthiola.

Stock in a vase: keeping it fresh

Cut stock usually lasts 5–7 days. The main issue is the water: stock stems foul it quickly, causing an unpleasant smell. Strip all leaves below the waterline, change the water daily and recut the stems. Cut-flower food helps too.

What to pair stock with

Stock adds scent and vertical lines to a bouquet. It pairs beautifully with roses, tulips, ranunculus, lisianthus and alstroemeria. Soft lilac and white stocks often appear in spring and wedding arrangements alongside oxypetalum. Avoid giving stock to people sensitive to strong scents.

More bouquet flowers are in our florist’s glossary.

FAQ

Is matthiola the same as stock?

Stock is Matthiola incana. Night-scented stock (Matthiola longipetala) is a different species with small fragrant flowers.

Why does the water with stock smell bad?

Stems and leaves rot quickly in water. Strip leaves below the waterline and change the water daily.

When should I sow night-scented stock?

Directly outdoors from April, in several batches 2–3 weeks apart.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

About the author →