Bloom Flowers Continuously Through Summer: Summer Blossom Garden Guide for Enthusiasts
Stock flowers, scientifically known as Matthiola incana, thrive best in full sun exposure and cool conditions with well-drained soil, ensuring reliable blooming mainly during cooler seasons such as spring and autumn rather than the peak of summer heat [1][3][5].
Key Growing Conditions
Light
Full sun is essential for strong growth and flowering [1][3][5].
Temperature
Stock prefers cool temperatures; flowering tends to stop as temperatures rise in late spring or summer, so continuous summer blooming can be challenging in hot climates [3].
Soil
Well-drained soil is crucial to avoid root problems; medium watering is optimal to prevent overwatering or drought stress [1][5].
Fertilization
Feed every two weeks for healthy growth and abundant flowers [1][2].
Spacing
Plant spacing around 12-16 inches for larger varieties, or 6-8 inches for more compact cultivars, to ensure good air circulation and healthy plants [1][2].
Pruning
While some varieties do not respond well to pinching, cutting back spent stems can stimulate additional flower production in certain cases, prolonging bloom period [4][5].
Ethylene Sensitivity
Stock flowers are sensitive to ethylene gas, which shortens vase life; careful handling and ethylene inhibitors improve cut flower quality but mostly pertain to post-harvest care [3].
Maintaining Blooms Through Summer
As a cool-season plant, to maintain blooms through summer, growers need to provide either cooler environments or select heat-tolerant varieties and ensure consistent moisture and feeding [3]. In hot regions, stock often ceases blooming in the heat of summer, resuming when temperatures cool again [3].
Cultivating Stock Flowers
In USDA plant hardiness zones 7-10, stock can be grown as a perennial. In zones with hard-freezing winters, growing stocks as annuals is the best option [6]. In mild winter zones, stock can also be grown as a biennial, becoming established in its first year and blossoming in the second after overwintering [6].
Annual stock can be easily grown when sown indoors in containers six to eight weeks before the last spring frost date and later transplanted outdoors [7]. Column stock cultivars grow tall with narrow, unbranching flower spikes, making them ideal for cut flowers in fields or greenhouses [8].
Varieties and Alternatives
Stocks most commonly have pink, purple, or white flowers, though hybrids continually add new hues such as apricot [9]. A rather different cousin, M. longipetala, is known as "evening scented stock" or "night scented stock" with small and wispy blossoms that only open at night [9].
Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) is an alternative to stock flowers, with beautiful blossoms, a spicy scent reminiscent of cloves, and reliable blooming throughout the gardening season with regular deadheading of spent blossoms [10].
In areas with a hot summer, stock's fragrant blossoms may stop once summer temperatures reach their peak [3]. Brompton types grow as two-year biennial plants with tall, upright cluster spikes of single or double flowers [9].
References
- RHS Plants for Pollinators
- Gardening Know How
- Missouri Botanical Garden
- Garden Myths
- Gardenia
- Gardening Channel
- Burpee
- Proven Winners
- Ball Horticultural Company
- Ball Horticultural Company
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