I bought some "stock" this fall to try out and so far it has been blooming great, better than the violas or dianthus i also got. I think the botanical name is Matthiola fruticulosa. I was wondering if anyone has grown this easily from seed or will I need to buy plants each fall? Or are there non hybrid varieties that will do well and reseed for bloom each fall in central tex (zone 8)
Annual "stock"-
Many, many years ago, I grew some stock from seed. It didn't bloom the first year, but the second year it did. It was so easy to grow from seed and it made it through the hot summer and cold winter. I don't remember what variety it was, but it smelled heavenly.
Stock is an awesome fragrant old time staple, like balsams, snapdragons, and seeds and thrives easy, lo care
The lady at the plant store said the variety I bought was a hybrid and wouldn't reseed.I'm wondering if that means it won't reseed at all, or it just won't look exactly like the one I got.As I was looking around the internet, the info is for northern gardens where it will bloom in the spring/summer. I am not sure when to sow stock seeds here in Texas.
Where winters are mild, the seeds should be sown in mid to late summer for bloom in winter or early spring. If using transplants, set out them out in early fall. For best flowering, the plants should be provided good drainage and full sun. When choose transplants, select ones with flower buds already set. If plants are set out in cool soil before flower buds have formed, they may not flower. Also, they are susceptible to fungus splashed up from the soil. I always pull off several of the leaves from the lower stem so that the stem is bare at least 2 inches up with no leaves touching the ground.
When planting seeds, if you only want plants that have double flowers, after the seeds have sprouted, prick out only the seedlings with yellowish-green cotyledons and discard the dark green ones which will produce single flowers.
This message was edited Jan 7, 2011 8:08 AM
Thanks htop! I am really looking forward to seeing how my plants do this winter. I found your info really helpful. Usually I try to get transplants that don't have many buds, but the info that they might not set flower buds if put into cool soil makes sense.I will keep an eye out for fungus problems. I have them in beds that have a fair amout of mulch,but good air circulation.
Do you know a good source for seeds so I can try them from seed next year?
The type I grow are the Vintage series. Seeds can be purchased from Stokes. Go to this link and scroll down to "stocks".
http://www.stokeseeds.com/search_results.aspx?search=stock
Here are some others:
http://www.burpee.com/flowers/stock/
Thanks for the info.The tag on mine says "vintage red" and they look just like the pictures.Do you think they will reseed? can I help them do that in any way?
I believe that mine did not self-seed. I think that it may have been because the bed they were in was heavily covered with cypress mulch so most of the seeds never made it to the soil. If they did, they couldn't germinate because the seed need light to germinate. So, if you are starting stock from seed, scatter the seed on top of the soil and do not cover with more soil. Just press them down gently and them do not wash them away with brisk watering. You can permit them to make seed, gather the seed and plant the seed where you want them to come up or in containers. I read somewhere that the seeds will not come true to the mother plant.
They bloom best in temperatures under 75º F and tolerate light frost. In the usually mild winter climates, they bloom from October through March. In extended periods of below freezing temperatures, the plants need protective covering. You can prolong the blooming period by pinching off the dried blooms so the plant does not set seed. They are actually biennial. The ones I planted in partial sun lasted all summer and bloomed again in the fall.
Thanks for the info Htop.lots of good advice, I didn't know they were really biennial. my beds are also mulched,but some other seeds come up reliably for me( Profusion zinnias,bluebonnets,larkspur) so I'll have to give some different methods a try. Right now I have some plants in full sun,some in part sun. some more exposed, some in pretty protected sites. I'll get to see how they all do and go from there for the future..
You're quite welcome. Sounds like you are conducting a great experiment with them. It will be interesting ti find out which ones do best. :o) I hope that they ALL do well for you. We had a surge in electricity late last night causing the electricity to go off and then back on. I didn't think to reset the heater in my greenhouse. At 10:00 AM this morning it was 40º F in it. I am hoping that it didn't get much lower in there.