Matthiola or Stock

Family: Brassicaceae. Name: named after Pietro Andrea Matthioli - a famous Italian botanist and physician of the 16th century.

Description: the genus includes more than 50 species, occurring in Central Europe, the Mediterranean and adjacent regions of Asia and Africa. Annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous plants, sometimes subshrubs. Stems erect, 20-80 cm tall, branched, glabrous or woolly. Leaves oblong, lanceolate, entire or notched. Flowers pink, white, lilac or dirty-yellow, gathered in racemose or spike-like inflorescences. Fruit - a silique. Seeds flat, narrowly winged, up to 700 per gram.

Stock used to be seen in almost every garden in former times; now it is found less often, somewhat fallen out of fashion. Indeed, there is something old-fashioned, refined and belonging to the classical, formal, park style about this plant. If you feel nostalgic for noble and beautiful antiquity and for a spicy, wondrous, somewhat sultry scent, then stock is your plant.

Native to Greece and Asia Minor. The plant is an annual, erect or spreading, densely branched, 40–50 cm tall. Leaves linear, coarsely toothed. Flowers small, inconspicuous, greenish-lilac, in loose racemose inflorescences, possessing a very strong and pleasant fragrance, especially in the evening and at night. During the day the flowers are closed. Flowers from June to August. Fruit - a long silique with two short horns at the tip. Seeds small, grayish-brown, retain viability for 2–3 years. In cultivation since the 16th century. In the photograph the cultivar 'Звездный свет'.

Location: stock grows well in various soil and climatic conditions with sufficient soil and air moisture. It achieves greatest decorative effect in open sunny locations. Does not tolerate waterlogging or prolonged drought.

Soil: prefers fertile, non-acidic, turf-loam or turf-sandy loam soil. In the year of planting organic fertilizers should not be applied.

Care: stocks are grown with regular feedings and waterings in dry weather. Since double-flowered stocks do not form siliques, the spent lower flowers are removed only to maintain the fresh appearance of the plant. If left, flowering will not stop. Stocks should not be planted where other Brassicaceae have been grown. They can be affected by clubroot of crucifers - a fungal disease that attacks cabbages and other plants of this family. It should be borne in mind that the clubroot pathogen retains the ability to infect plants for many years. Besides clubroot, stock may be affected by all the usual pests and diseases, including crucifer flea beetles, cabbage moths, pierid butterflies and so on.

Propagation: for flowering in June, sow seeds in mid-March in boxes with a mixture of turf soil and sand in a ratio of 3:1. When seedlings appear, lower the temperature in the greenhouse to 8–12°C, and place the boxes nearer to the light. After 10–12 days, at the cotyledon stage, seedlings are pricked out into nutrient cubes or pots and after some time moved to cold frames. For pricking out use a mixture of turf, leaf mold and sand in the ratio 2:2:1. Hardened stock seedlings easily tolerate temperature drops to -5°C; they can be planted outdoors in their permanent place earlier, spacing plants 20–25 cm apart. To ensure continuous flowering of stock throughout the summer, repeat sowings every 10–15 days.

Stock is a very interesting, one might say unique plant. Although the double nature of its flowers is complete or absolute, meaning all stamens and the pistil are transformed into petals, and plants with double flowers do not produce seeds at all, stock is propagated by seeds. These seeds are collected from plants that have simple four-petaled flowers and are of no decorative value. In the seed progeny of these plants segregation occurs into plants with simple and double flowers, most often in a ratio of about 1:1. However, plants with simple flowers (called seed-bearers) are also heterogeneous with respect to doubleness. Practice has shown that weakly developed plants with short, blunt siliques appressed to the stem give a higher percentage of double plants than seed-bearers with other traits. At present there are varieties containing 60, 80 and even 90% double plants. In addition, most garden groups now have a marker trait by which seedlings at the cotyledon stage can be distinguished as future double-flowered plants. Sowings of these stock groups are kept at 12–15°C, and the emerged seedlings are placed for several days in an even cooler location at 6–8°C. Cotyledons of plants with double flowers will be larger and pale green in contrast to the bright green of those with simple flowers. This makes it possible to select 100% double plants for planting.

Uses: the main merit of matthiola is its enchanting fragrance, which intensifies in the evening. For this reason the two-horned matthiola is called the night violet. Matthiola has long been planted near benches, gazebos and terraces. It is grown in mixed flowerbeds, sometimes used in a Moorish lawn. Good for bouquets. The hoary stock can be planted in flowerbeds and borders, combining varieties by plant height and flower color as well as by flowering times. Stock can be planted in containers, outdoor vases and balcony boxes. Tall varieties are good for cutting; their inflorescences last in water up to 10 days, filling the room with fragrance.