MATTHIOLA INCANA - SCENTED STOCKS

I tried to grow Matthiola incana (scented stock) many years ago, unsuccessfully. I think I had planted them in a place they didn't like.  Plants can be picky!  Anyway, this year, mooching around a garden centre, I spotted some plants for sale and brought some home with me.  As I don't have a lot of spare space in my garden (see earlier post), I just dotted them around wherever they would fit.  I know we are supposed to plant in groups of three or five but to hell with that, in a garden the size of mine, about 25 x 25 ft, it is a case of anything goes where it goes.  It seems to work out ok.

Matthiola incana - scented stock - cerese and a white

I landed on my feet, actually, as some of the pots of stocks seem to have two plants to a pot.  The above cerese and white matthiola incanas came out of one stock pot, so to speak. :)  They are beautifully fragrant.  While they are good for cutting, I wouldn't dream of doing so unless I had a garden full of them.




According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Matthiola incana is: "a woody-based perennial, sometimes short-lived, with narrow, grey-green foliage. Upright spikes of sweet-scented pink, mauve, purple, violet or white flowers, up to 2.5cm across, are produced in late spring and early summer. Many cultivars of this species are grown as annual or biennial bedding plants, or for cut flowers."




This is a link to the RHS webpage about Matthiola incana.  Ignore their rubbish image, you'd think the RHS, of all things, could do better than that!  It's enough to put you off buying the plant! :D






Matthiola incana - scented stock - mauve

Matthiola incana - scented stock - white

Matthiola incana, scented stocks, are planted here and there, filling tiny spaces in my garden borders.

Matthiola incana, bottom left, in front of the Veronica spicata (Ulster Blue Dwarf)