Matthiola longipetala 'Starlight Scentsation'

Matthiola longipetala, commonly known as Evening or Night Scented Stock, is a modest little annual with an unforgettable trick up its sleeve. By day, it’s a rather unassuming plant, narrow grey-green leaves, loose habit, and small, pale mauve to lilac flowers that might not catch your eye at first glance, but come evening, as the sun dips and the air cools, the flowers release a heady, sweet fragrance that fills the garden with old-world charm. The scent has been compared to vanilla, rose, spice and even cloves it is a favourite in cottage gardens or near patios and windows where its scent can be properly appreciated. Once you experience it in your own garden it will become a summer fragrance you will never want to be without. Native to the eastern Mediterranean, it thrives in a position with well-drained soil and full sun.

Matthiola 'Starlight Scentsation Mix is a modern variety that has been developed to give a balanced blend of soft colours and a reliably strong scent throughout summer. The plants flower rapidly from seed, providing quick results and adding vibrant colour to your garden in no time. In a soft pastel blend of lilac, mauve, pink and cream, their bushy habit makes them perfect for beds, borders, and containers, and they also make a lovely cut flower for bouquets.
The flowers are small, with four delicate petals, and are carried on slender stems above narrow, grey-green foliage. By day the blooms are often half-closed and modest, but as the light fades they open fully, releasing a rich, sweet scent that can drift on the air across a garden. The plants are compact and branching, reaching 45 to 60cm (18 to 24in) in height, and are ideally placed in patio pots, window boxes or at the front of sunny borders where the fragrance can be appreciated at close quarters. A patch near a seat, doorway or open window will transform a summer evening.

‘Starlight Scentsation’ is quick to grow and flowers over a long season if sown in succession. It is an undemanding annual, happy in most well-drained soils, and will reward even a small sowing with weeks of scent for very little effort.

Sowing: Sow Indoors from March to April, or sow direct outdoors from April to May once frosts have passed.
For an early display, seeds may be started under cover and transplanted outdoors after hardening off. Otherwise, wait until temperatures warm a little before sowing directly outdoors into a prepare bed.
For a continuous show throughout the summer, you may wish to plant stagger the sowing dates. A second sowing a few weeks after the first will extend the season, ensuring scented evenings well into late summer.
Position plants around seating areas and along paths in the garden so their scent can be enjoyed in the evenings. A sunny situation should be chosen, which should be prepared as soon as possible, making sure that drainage is good.

Night Scented Stock takes 8 to 10 weeks seed-to-scent, so the last outdoor sowing is about mid July (coastal spots can push to early August); after that, sow late Aug to Sept under cover for early spring bloom.

Sowing Indoors:
Sow thinly on the surface of moist, well-drained seed compost and cover very lightly with a fine sprinkling of compost or vermiculite. Maintain a temperature of 15 to 18°C (59 to 64°F) and germination should occur within 7 to 14 days.
Cover with a thin layer of well drained compost or vermiculite. The compost should be kept moist but not wet at all times.

Sowing Direct:
Choose a sunny, well-drained position where the plants are to bloom, with well-cultivated soil which has been raked to a fine tilth. Sow thinly, 6mm (¼in) deep and 30cm (12in) apart in small clumps or shallow drills. Cover the seeds lightly with fine soil. Keep moist until seedlings are established, especially in dry periods. When large enough to handle, thin out seedlings until they are finally 20cm (8in) apart.

Cultivation:
Matthiola prefer a dryer than average position. Plant them in pots or directly into the front of beds. Never over water, but do not let the soil dry out. Stems and flowers may wilt during the day, but will revive at night.
Flowers should be removed as soon as they have faded to promote the growth of further blooms. Preventive measures should be taken against aphids.
For cut flowers, harvest flowers are half-open; recut stems underwater. Cut flowers will last 8 to 10 days in water.

Plant Uses:
Cut Flowers, Flowers Borders and Beds, Patio and Container Plants.
Cut when flowers are half-open; recut stems underwater. Cut flowers will last 8 to 10 days in water.
While the plant is not grown for culinary use, the flowers are edible and can be used sparingly as a garnish for summer salads, adding both colour and a faint hint of sweetness.
There is no history of medicinal use, though it has long been valued for the therapeutic pleasure of its fragrance, said to lift the spirits and ease anxiety.

Origin:
Matthiola longipetala is native to the eastern Mediterranean, particularly Greece, Turkey, and parts of the Middle East, where it grows as a wild annual in open, sunny places.
It was imported into England in the late 1500s, immediately after its discovery and identification. It was bred extensively and soon became a favourite in English gardens. Its understated flowers and intoxicating night perfume have ensured its place in cultivation ever since.
The modern ‘Starlight Scentsation’ mix was developed to give a balanced blend of soft colours and a reliably strong scent throughout summer.

Nomenclature:
The name Matthiola honours Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500 to 1577) the 16th-century Italian physician and botanist who first identified Matthiola incana and whose herbal writings were widely read across Europe.
Matthiola longipetala was formerly known as Matthiola bicornis can still occasionally be found as Matthiola longipetala subsp. bicornis. Taxonomists took a closer look and, after a bit of Latin wrangling, decided Matthiola longipetala had priority and better described the plant’s characteristics.
The species name longipetala is descriptive and simply means long petals.

History:
Stocks, sea stocks, wallflowers and wall-gillyflowers are old English names for a confusing mix of crucifers, plants now classified in the Brassicaceae, the mustard family. Gillyflower or gillofloure, as John Gerard spelled it in 1597, also referred to pinks and sweet Williams. Today, stock is the vernacular for species of Matthiola and in particular, Matthiola incana.
Stocks were once grown for medicinal purposes, and a comment attributed to Pierandrea Mattioli that he grew these plants only for matters of love and lust, suggests the medicine had much to do with the scent.

John Gerard (c.1545–1612) was an English herbalist and barber-surgeon, best known for The Herball (1597), a richly illustrated plant encyclopedia. He kept a celebrated physic garden in Holborn and served as superintendent of Lord Burghley’s gardens.
The book leaned heavily on earlier continental sources (notably Dodoens) and had a few howlers, but it became the era’s most popular English herbal. Thomas Johnson’s 1633 edition corrected many errors and stayed influential for centuries.
Gerard wrote, "...a pleasant purple colour, and the others white...we have some that beare double floures, which are of divers colours, greatly esteemed for the beautie of their floures, and pleasant sweet smell."
He had little respect for the medicinal use of stock. "...they are not used...except by Empericks (empirics, practicing medicine by intuition or experience) and Quacksalvers (vain pretenders to medical skill), about love and lust matters, which for modestie I omit."