Two Vintage Brown Stock Flowers on a white background.

Vintage Brown Stocks with pink bowl and gravy pour.

Vintage Brown Stock flowers with pink tea from dried flowers.

Vintage Brown Stock flowers with pink rice dyed from the flowers and salad.

Stock Seeds,
Vintage Brown

43 ReviewsSKU: #FL973Min. seed count: 30

Price

$4.00

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Quantity

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Description

A romantic dusty-rose-colored single stem, columnar stock with fabulous fragrance. The sturdy, thick stems and closely packed blooms make this variety perfect for arrangements! The beautiful edible blooms will impart a unique color to foods as a natural dye. Plants reach 2 feet tall and produce a robust and floriferous single stem. This variety hails from Japan, where stocks are beloved for home gardening and ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. This beautiful cousin of the cabbage has heavenly scented flowers that also taste yummy, and they have a fantastic clove-like essence! We love stocks for naturally dying foods like rice and cookies, and they make a flavorful addition to salads, fresh spring rolls, and more. Such a versatile edible flower!

Growing Tips: Transplant or direct seed in place in early spring. Plants prefer full sun and well-draining soils. Succession plant for continuous blooms.

Plant Details

Botanical Name: Matthiola incana
Life Cycle: Annual
Sun Requirement: 8–12 hr.
Days to Germinate: 7–14
Days to Maturity: 110–150
Planting Depth: ¼ in.
Plant Spacing: 12 in.
Ideal Temperature: 60–75°F
Frost Hardy: Yes

When to Grow

Vintage Brown is a long-season, single-stem stock. At 110 to 150 days to maturity it needs the whole cool stretch of the year, so transplant or direct seed it in place in early spring, a quarter inch deep, with indoor sowings started about one month before you plant out. Each plant builds one robust columnar stalk rather than side branches, so give it 8 to 12 inches in full sun and well-draining soil and let those thick stems size up. Water at the base rather than overhead, which is how the molds and rots get started.

How to Sow and Plant

Start seeds indoors about one month before planting out.
Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep.
Ideal germination temperature is 60-65 F.
Seeds germinate in 7-21 days

How to Grow

Keep in mind that stocks prefer cool weather and the plants' blooming ability will suffer in summer's heat, so it is ideally suited to early spring and fall.
Space plants 8-12 inches apart.
Stocks flourish in full sun and will provide glorious blooms throughout spring.
When cutting, harvest stems when 1/3-1/2 of florets are open.

PESTS/SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

A few molds and rots can occur when overhead irrigation is used. Avoid this watering method and provide good drainage.

How to Save Seeds

Stocks are a brassica.
You can hand pick the seeds from their dried brown pods and store in a cool, dark, dry place.

FAQ

Is Vintage Brown really brown?

The blooms read as a romantic dusty rose, closely packed along a single columnar stem with fabulous fragrance.

Can I save seed from my plants?

Stocks are a brassica. You can hand pick the seeds from their dried brown pods and store them in a cool, dark, dry place. Keep in mind that stocks are insect-pollinated and cross freely with any other stock in bloom nearby, so isolate by several hundred feet or cage and hand-pollinate, and expect the saved seed to segregate rather than come true to this single-stem column type.

How tall and how branched is this variety?

Plants reach about 2 feet tall and produce one robust, floriferous single stem on thick, sturdy stalks.

Customer reviews

4 / 5 3 Reviews

What gardeners are saying

Fragrant, true color: Strong sweet scent; buds look yellow until they open brown.
Edible, spicy petals: Tastes a bit like radish; good in salads.
Heads up: Slow to bloom, and some plants come single, not double.