Color:

Stock

Matthiola incana

Annual

Popular

Mustard Family

Fragrant spikes of ruffled flowers with spicy-sweet scent. Old-fashioned cottage garden favorite. Multiple florets per stem. Intense fragrance fills room.

Bloom Season

Spring, Summer

Habitat

Temperate

Where to Buy

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Perfect For

WeddingMothers-day

Care & Vase Life

Stays fresh for 5 to 10 days

when properly cared for

Very fragrant - place where you can enjoy the scent

Water becomes cloudy quickly - change every 1-2 days

Remove spent lower florets as they fade

Flowers open from bottom to top over time

Very fragrant

Change water every 2 days - water becomes cloudy

Remove spent lower florets

Flowers open from bottom up

Fragrance Profile

Strong

Sweet, spicy, clove-like perfume that fills a room

Fun Facts

Stock has been cultivated since ancient Greek times for its fragrance

Called "gillyflower" in Elizabethan England, along with carnations

Victorian ladies carried stock in nosegays to mask unpleasant city odors

The flower's evening fragrance is strongest, attracting night pollinators

Origin & History

Native to Mediterranean

Stock (Matthiola incana) is native to the Mediterranean coast. Ancient Greeks and Romans grew it for its spicy fragrance. It became a cottage garden essential in medieval England, where it was called "gillyflower." Victorian florists prized it for nosegays and tussie-mussies.