Night Scented stock
Description
Matthiola longipetala.
Spindly and insignificant by day, it is intense fragrance at dusk! Stocks prefer cool temperatures, but need full sun to perform well. Once the soil heats up in summer, plants tend to die back. Provide ample water, but very well drained soil. Sow Evening Scented stocks seeds on the surface of the soil. Many sources still use the previous Latin name for this plant, M. bicornis. If given some support, this branching plant will grow to 45cm (18″) tall. If grown in containers, it will probably not grow upright.
well suited for obscure corners where it will produce intense fragrance at night, and won’t be highly visible by day. The small flowers of night-scented stock (Matthiola bicornis, syn. M. longipetala ssp. bicornis) would be at home in a meadow or growing on a rocky sea cliff, which is exactly where stock ancestors came from. The species flowers are off-white and pale mauve, and the plant has a slightly weedy appearance, a bit floppy, with wilty blossoms in midday sun. But when the air cools in late afternoon, the four-petaled flowers open wide, and a deep scent of nutmeg-vanilla fills the air. These are bewitching flowers, small and innocuous by day, but transforming into night-scented sirens pumping out perfume until dawn. It’s impossible to walk near them without smelling the strong fragrance.
Please note if you order more than one of this item they will be shipped packaged all in one ziploc bag with one set of planting instruction unless otherwise requested