loading

Matthiola incana 'Column Apricot'

traditional field-grown column stocks

Product Image
Stocks are unmatched for their fragrance, flower displays and ease of growing, and ‘Apricot’ is no exception. Beautiful, blousy, and blooming in time from Valentines from an October sowing, the grey-green rosette of foliage gives rise to sweetly-scented and loosely branched double pinkish-apricot flowering spikes, ideal for the cut flower vase. Sown in early spring under glass, a fragrant bed of stocks in the garden can be had in as little as 90 days, and a succession of sowings will provide continuous flower and scent to summer borders well into autumn.

How to care for Matthiola incana Column Apricot:

Keep watered during dry spells and apply a monthly, liquid, general-purpose fertiliser during the growing season. Pinch out the top as they grow to encourage branching and more flower spikes, cutting back the main stem once flowers have faded to encourage side shoots to bloom too.

Sowing instructions:

Fill trays with good quality compost and lightly cover the seeds. Water and grow on at 13-18°C. Prick out seedlings with a green/yellow colour and discard the dark green ones which will produce only single flowers. Pot on when they have put on their first true leaves and then harden off before planting out at 20-30cm intervals after the frosts have passed. Seeds sown in autumn and overwintered in a frost-free frame, will produce plants which will flower earlier in the year, than those sown in spring.
Flowering period:
  • Jan
  • Feb
  • Mar
  • Apr
  • May
  • Jun
  • Jul
  • Aug
  • Sep
  • Oct
  • Nov
  • Dec
Eventual height:
0.75m
Eventual spread:
0.2m
Position:

Full sun

Rate of growth:

Fast-growing

Soil:

Moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil, or peat-free general purpose compost

Hardiness:

Borderline hardy (will need protection in winter in colder areas)

Product options

Add to basket
Product options image
SD30001279
approx 100 seeds
£3.99
Remove Add
Delivery options (pick your preferred option at checkout)
Standard delivery Seed Packets (only)£2.95
Nominated delivery Named Day Delivery£10.95

Goes well with

Become an RHS Member today and save 25% on your first year