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Matthiola incana 'Avalanche'
traditional field-grown column stocks Avalanche White
Tightly packed blooms of snowy-white, many of which will be fully double and perfume the air with a sweet and...
approx 100 seeds
£3.99
available to order from late spring
1
Plant description
Tightly packed blooms of snowy-white, many of which will be fully double and perfume the air with a sweet and spicy clove scent on strong, single stems. Traditionally a staple of cottage gardens, stocks have long been popular both for bedding and for providing cut flowers, but ‘Avalanche White’ would look stunning in a dark or metallic pot in a contemporary scheme, endearing itself to a whole new generation of gardeners. A hardy biennial when grown in summer for flowering early in the season of the following year, it is most commonly grown as an annual from a sowing in early spring.
Eventual height & spread
Flowering period
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Plant features
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)
How to care for Matthiola incana Avalanche:
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.
