Evening Stock (Night- or Evening-Scented Stock, Perfume Plant)
Matthiola longipetala. BRASSICACEAE (CRUCIFERAE).
Planting and Growing Evening Stock
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow evening stock in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of evening stock
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for evening stock
- Season of bloom and planting time for evening stock
- When, how deep, and where to plant evening stock
- How to plant evening stock
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of evening stock
- Landscape and container uses of evening stock
- Comments about evening stock and its features
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Growing Evening Stock
A few cultivars of erect, branching, open annual herbs, to 18 in. (45 cm) tall. Smooth, gray green, lance-shaped leaves, to 3-1/2-in. (90-mm) long.
See also Stock, Matthiola incana, closely related perennial species with similar care needs.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many pink, purple, yellow, horned, very fragrant flowers, to 3/4-in. (19-mm) wide, in low, spiking clusters, in summer.
Best Climates
Plant as tender summer annual, zones 2–7, or winter annual, zones 8–11; self-seeding, zones 8–9. Best in mild-summer climates.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy loam. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.5–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring, zones 2–7, after frost hazard has passed; autumn, zones 8–11, in full sun to partial shade, 1 ft. (30 cm) apart.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist; allow soil surface to dry between waterings. Avoid wetting foliage. Fertilize monthly. Stake. Protect from wind. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for backgrounds, beds, borders, containers in cottage, meadow, shade gardens. Good for cutting. Pest and disease resistant.