Pronounciation: Mat-THI-o-la in-CA-na

Hardiness zones
Sunset 8, 9, 12-24 as winter annual
USDA 9-11 as winter annual

Landscape Use: Mass color, bedding plant, cut flowers, fragrance gardens, edging plant.

Form & Character: Stiffly upright, old fashion garden plant, visually recessive except when in flower.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, herbaceous, short-lived perennial that can only be grown as a cool-season annual in Phoenix, upright, 12- to 36-inches tall depending on cultivar.

Foliage/Texture: Leaves tomentose, gray green, oblong and sessile to 4-inches long; medium texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Flowers single and double, white to lavender on terminal spikes, flowers are sweetly fragrant; fruit are an elongated narrow green capsule.

Seasonal Color: Floral accent during winter and spring in Phoenix.

Temperature: Cold hardy to 25^oF, and grows best when air temperatures are between 40^o and 80^oF. In Phoenix, stock plants quickly fade when the weather warms in later spring and daytime temperatures are consistently above 95^oF .

Light: Full sun

Soil: Prefers neutral to slightly alkaline (pH between 6.5 and 7.5), medium-textured, well-drained soils with organic amendments.

Watering: Regular watering best, will take some drought during the Phoenix cool season of winter.

Pruning: Very limited to none. If anything just remove spent bloom spikes to encourage continued flower development.

Propagation: Seed, 85% doubles and 15% singles.

Disease and Pests: Nematodes

Additional comments: Stock is a dependable, winter annual for Phoenix flower borders that was more popular last century than it is today. It is best used in mass plantings where individual plants are spaced at 8- to 18-inches apart depending on plant vigor.

Ethnobotanical and biomedical uses Stock flowers are edible and the seeds are said to be aphrodisiac. Stock shoots tissues are a source of secondary compounds with a multitude of anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-carcinogenic properties.