Annuals & Biennials

Mathiola
stock

- Height 8-30 in (20-75 cm)
- Planting distance 1 ft (30 cm)
- Flowers early to late summer; winter and spring in South
- Fertile garden soil
- Sunny or lightly shaded site
- Hardy annual or biennial

Their heavenly scent and dense spikes of pastel and rich-colored flowers have made stocks favorites for cottage gardens, formal beds, mixed borders, and cut flowers. The spikes are borne on erect stems clothed with narrow, gray-green downy leaves.

Popular species and cultivars
Most garden cultivars have been developed from Matthiola incana, commonly known as stock.
'Brompton Stocks' are upright bushy plants reaching up to 11/2 ft (45 cm) high. These late-spring-flowering stocks have single or double blooms of red, pink, purple, yellow, and white. Usually sold as a mixture, they should be treated as biennials.
'Cinderella Hybrids' produce dwarf plants 8-10 in (20-25 cm) tall. Double blossoms of carmine-red, rose, purple, and white open 7 weeks after sowing, making these one of the earliest-flowering stocks. Treat these plants as annuals.
"Night-Scented Stock," the common name for Matthiola longipetala bicornis, is a 15 in (38 cm) high, bushy annual. The lilac-gray or purple flowers, borne from mid- to late summer, remain closed during the day, but open at night to release the sweet fragrance for which they are known.
'Ten Week Stocks' are exceptionally fragrant early-flowering cultivars in mixed colors. As the name implies, they will flower 10-12 weeks after being sown. They make ideal bedding plants. Cultivars include 'Dwarf,' a compact plant 1 ft (30 cm) high, carrying large flowers in mixed pastel and rich colors.

Annuals
and
Biennials