When homeowners think about enhancing their gardens, they often focus on visual appeal, but the fragrance is equally significant. A beautifully scented garden can transform your outdoor space, and fragrant flowers and shrubs are key players. One exceptional choice is the Stock (Matthiola incana), a flower that emits a spicy clove-like aroma, drawing in bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. This plant is easy to cultivate from seeds and is available in a variety of vibrant colors such as pink and purple. It thrives in direct sunlight but can also handle some shade, especially in the warmer regions of USDA hardiness zones 6 through 10.
Stock thrives in cooler temperatures. If you start the seeds indoors six to eight weeks before the last expected frost, you’ll be greeted with blooms in the spring. To enjoy a prolonged flowering period, consider sowing seeds every couple of weeks. Stock is not fond of high temperatures and may stop blooming when summer heat exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to its sensitivity to temperature, stock is typically grown as an annual in cooler climates and as a perennial in warmer ones.
With stock reaching heights of up to 3 feet, it’s ideal to plant it alongside shorter flowers and shrubs to create an eye-catching landscape contrast. To enjoy its lovely scent indoors, grow stock in containers that you can position near open windows. For a nighttime fragrance, consider planting the related evening scented stock (Matthiola longipetala) near your home, which releases its scent after dark.
Growing Stock Flowers in a Fragrance Garden
To fully enjoy the delightful aroma of stock, consider incorporating it into a fragrance garden, which is a thoughtfully curated collection of aromatic plants. When designing such a garden, consider how the scents of different plants will complement each other. Stock has a sweet and spicy fragrance, making it a perfect companion for plants like Dianthus, which offers a vanilla-like aroma that blends beautifully with stock’s clove notes. Evening scented stock pairs well with other nighttime fragrant plants like moonflowers (Ipomoea alba) and night scented phlox (Zaluzianskya ovata), both of which thrive in full sun, similar to stock.
It’s essential to consider the sunlight, soil, and moisture requirements of your plants to ensure a harmonious garden. A garden with plants that share similar needs is easier to maintain. Stock prefers well-drained soil with a neutral to slightly alkaline pH, which is another reason why it pairs well with Dianthus. On the other hand, it may not thrive near acid-loving plants like azaleas. If your garden’s soil is naturally acidic, you can raise its pH to make it more alkaline. To support stock and other alkaline-loving plants, you might add baking soda to their soil. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of baking soda in 1 gallon of water and use this solution to water your stock if the soil is too acidic.
