Night scented stock is a low, bushy hardy annual from the Mediterranean to Central Asia, grown mainly for its strong evening fragrance. It thrives in cool weather and full sun, and dislikes heat and overwatering.
Family
Brassicaceae (Cabbage family)
Grows as
Annual
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly but do not overwater; let the top of the soil dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained garden soil or light potting mix.
Temperature
Prefers cool conditions, about 10–20 °C; may not do well at high temperatures and is frost-hardy.
How easy
Easy
Native range
E. Medit. to C. Asia and Arabian Pen.
Climate
temperate
About
Matthiola longipetala, known as night-scented stock or evening stock (syns Cheiranthus longipetalus, Matthiola bicornis, Matthiola longipetala subsp. bicornis, and Matthiola oxyceras), is a species of ornamental plant.
How to grow it
This species is primarily grown for the evening scent. It is cold-resistant and grown throughout North America, even doing well into hardiness zone 1 . This hardy annual prefers cool conditions in full sun and may not do well at high temperatures. It is best to plant thickly in clumps if a bushy appearance is desired. In Canada, the tiny seeds are usually sown in the early spring after the last frost and may be started indoors in April. They will bloom throughout the early summer and well into the summer if watered regularly. They should not be overwatered. They may also be grown in balcony containers although they will not usually stand upright and must not be allowed to become too hot and dry.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Matthiola longipetala by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.