Description
Stock ‘Heaven Scent’
Matthiola incana
This is a special exclusive blend not available anywhere else! Normally these seeds go straight to professional plant nurseries to sell as full grown plants in garden centres
Taller than the Stocks for pots, but still don’t need staking.
They grow and flower very quickly with a natural branching habit, do not pinch!
Stems are tall enough for arrangements and the singles are the best I have ever seen, perfect for bunching together for a flower girl posy (see gallery).
Gloriously fragrant, fluffy flowers in shades of Cherry Blossom, Cream Yellow, Deep Rose, Light Rose, Purple, Violet, and White.
Flowering in late Spring-early Summer they perfectly fill the gap between the end of the Spring flowers and the late summer wonders.
They look wonderful mixed in a vase with our new Clary Sage Coronation Mix, which also flowers incredibly early.
How to grow:
Seeds germinate and grow incredibly quickly so we don’t sow our stocks until late winter/ early Spring, just as the light levels return.
Sow one seed per cell onto the surface of the compost, pushing seeds into the compost gently so they make good contact. Seeds also benefit from a bit of warmth to trigger germination.
About half of the plants will be singles and half the plants will produce double blooms so grow twice as many as you need.
Plant out 20cm apart after the last frost and don’t pinch, they send up a single but magnificent flowering spike so you don’t want to chop that off!
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Details:
Variety: Matthiola incana
Type: Hardy Annual
Position: Full sun
Sow: Spring
Spacing: 15-20cm
Height: 35-40cm
Harvest: Mid may, June – July (depending on sowing times)
Seeds per packet: 50 (seeds are really expensive so I have reduced the fill size to keep them affordable. I use 100% of the plants, the singles are lovely in a posy (see gallery)).
Cutting /Vase Life:
Harvest when one-third to one-half of the flowers are open straight into to waiting buckets of cool water. We rest stems in water for at least a few hours, preferably overnight, this is called conditioning. Stocks are a very long lasting with a vase life of up to 10 days, depending of course on how long you enjoyed them in the garden first.
