Matthiola incana Classic Malmaison Pink seeds - Hoary Stock

The Ten-week Stock 'Classic Malmaison Pink', or Matthiola incana, is a cherished heritage variety prized for its romantic charm and its delicious clove-like fragrance. This plant produces splendid floral spikes borne on upright stems, ideal for creating bouquets. When grown from seed, approximately 50% of the stems bear double flowers. Easy to grow in the ground or in pots, this stock loves full sun and is equally suited to garden decoration and flowering containers.

The ten-week stock, in Latin Matthiola incana (also known by its former name Cheiranthus incanus), is a short-lived herbaceous perennial, often grown as an annual or biennial depending on the region. It belongs to the Brassicaceae family, like mustard. This species is native to the Mediterranean basin and the Canary Islands, where it grows naturally in rocky coastal areas. It is also known as Common Stock, Garden Stock, or Florist's Stock.

The 'Classic Malmaison Pink' selection produces upright plants with a bushy, well-branched habit, reaching about 60 to 70 cm in height. The stems bear narrow, lanceolate leaves of a soft grey-green. From late April to September, depending on the sowing date, they are adorned with fragrant flowers, grouped in long, dense spikes, 2 to 3 cm in diameter. These pastel pink flowers can be single or double, depending on the plant, but all are intensely fragrant. They are loved by bees and other pollinating insects.
When grown in a pot, the plant typically develops a more substantial, single floral spike, while in the ground, it adopts a more branched form, conducive to a more spreading and generous flowering. This ten-week stock has an annual or biennial life cycle, depending on the sowing period and climate. Sown in spring, it flowers the same year, from May to September. Sown in late summer or autumn, it overwinters as a rosette and flowers the following spring, thus adopting a biennial cycle. In both cases, the plant completes its cycle after flowering and does not survive from one year to the next.

The Ten-week Stock 'Classic Malmaison Pink' is a very pretty flower for beds, borders, window boxes, and flowering pots. Its strong, spicy fragrance encourages you to place it near pathways or terraces, where it can be fully appreciated. In a bed, its soft pink blends wonderfully with gentle or contrasting blooms: consider cosmos, poppies, godetias, love-in-a-mist, or even baby's breath for a romantic and airy effect. In a bouquet, it pairs with the opulent flowers of old garden roses, Chinese peonies, or branches of lilac, for fragrant and utterly charming compositions.