Night-scented stock

Night-scented stock: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Small, loose annual 20–30 cm tall and 15–20 cm wide, with thin, branching stems.

Foliage

Narrow, lance-shaped, grey-green and slightly hairy.

Flower

Small four-petalled flowers in a loose raceme, June to September. Often half-closed or floppy by day.

Colour

Pale lilac to pink, sometimes slightly brownish; the scent matters more than the colour.

Scent

Very strong and sweet at dusk and in the evening, hardly noticeable by day.

Flowering: June–September · Sowing: April–June

Why grow it?

• A very strong, sweet fragrance in the evening, ideal next to a terrace or under an open window.
• Attracts moths, which visit the flowers at dusk.
• Flowers from June to September if you sow in several batches.
• Easy, cheap and suitable for containers, edges and small spaces.
• Modest in appearance, it fills gaps between showier summer flowers.

Night-scented stock: where does it grow best?

• Sun to light partial shade; it flowers with a little less light too, but sun gives the best display.
• Ordinary, well-drained garden soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Moderately moist; do not let it dry out for long.
• Space 15–20 cm apart. Put it where you sit in the evening: beside the terrace, by a window or in a container.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal

Size

0.3 m tall, 0.2 m wide

Hardiness

Tolerates light frost (to -5 °C)

Goes well with

• Lavender: Fragrant and sun-loving; together they make a scented corner by the terrace.
• Wild marjoram: Low and aromatic, it also attracts bees and butterflies.
• Flowering tobacco: Also scented in the evening; together they make a true evening garden.
• Lady’s mantle: A soft, low edge that sets off the modest plant.

Night-scented stock: when and how to plant it?

1. Sow from April to June directly where it is to grow, when the soil is no longer cold and wet.
2. Rake the soil fine and sow thinly, about 0.5 cm deep; cover the seed with only a very thin layer of soil.
3. Keep the soil moist until the seedlings appear after 1–2 weeks.
4. Thin to 15–20 cm apart, or sow closer in a container.
5. Sow again every 3–4 weeks to keep flowers and scent going until September.

Care

Water

Keep young plants moist. After that, water only in dry weather; more often in containers.

Feeding

Hardly needed; rich soil gives more leaf than flower.

Deadheading

Remove spent flowers now and then; it keeps the plant tidy and prolongs flowering.

Support

Usually unnecessary; in a windy corner a few twigs are enough.

Clearing

Pull the plants up in October. If you leave a few, they often self-sow.

Tip: Sow in several batches, every 3–4 weeks, and always close to where you sit in the evening. The scent is strongest at dusk.

Night-scented stock: when to prune it?

When: An annual is not pruned; at most, cut off spent parts.

How:

• Cut off spent racemes to prolong flowering.
• In June, thin the first sowing so the plants are not too crowded.
• Pull the plants up in autumn and tidy the bed.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Sowing

From April to June in place, in several batches. Sow very thinly and barely cover; seeds germinate in 1–2 weeks.

Saving seed

Let a few plants ripen. When the long, narrow pods are brown and dry, pick them, let them dry further and store the seed cool and dry.

Night-scented stock: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −5 °C: protect in harsh winters.

• An annual: the plant dies in autumn. Young plants tolerate a light frost, down to about −5 °C.
• Store seed in a paper envelope in a cool, dry place.
• Fallen seed may come up on its own in spring.

Diseases and pests

• Flea beetles: Small round holes in the leaves, especially in dry weather; they attack all brassicas. Keep the soil moist and cover young plants with fine mesh.
• Slugs: Young seedlings are soon eaten. Search for them in the evening or lay a ring of coarse sand or crushed shells.
• Clubroot: A brassica disease: the roots swell and the plant declines. Do not sow in the same spot every year, especially where cabbages have grown.
• Caterpillars: Cabbage white caterpillars chew holes in the leaves. Pick them off; a few do little harm to flowering.

Through the year

• April: First sowing in place.
• May: Sow and thin out.
• June: Second sowing. Flowering begins.
• July: Flowers and evening scent. Water in dry spells.
• August: Full flower. Remove spent racemes.
• September: Last flowers. Collect seed if wanted.
• October: Clear the plants.

Good for wildlife

Butterflies

Nectar for butterflies.

Did you know?

• The genus name Matthiola honours Pietro Andrea Mattioli, an Italian physician and botanist of the sixteenth century.
• The flowers scent the air in the evening precisely to attract the moths that pollinate them.
• Matthiola longipetala is a relative of the garden stock (Matthiola incana) and, like cabbage and mustard, belongs to the cabbage family.