Matthiola
Stocks
“lasting beauty and a happy life”
Stocks take their botanical name, Matthiola, from the sixteenth-century Italian botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli, and have been a cottage-garden staple ever since. In floriography they promise lasting beauty and a happy, contented life, a sentiment as generous as their spicy clove scent. Few stems perfume a room so readily, which makes them a favourite for scented seasonal bouquets.
In season, and in the studio
Stocks is in season March to September, so it is in the studio this month. In the studio's bunches it is a secondary flower, the supporting cast that gives a bunch its shape and rhythm around the focal stem. The studio buys it in white, lavender and apricot, and at the bench each colour is read for its own meaning.
What each colour says
- Whitelasting beauty and sincerity
- Lavendergrace and serene affection
- Apricotwarm contentment and gentle devotion
Right for
Arranges beautifully with
Pairings follow the florist's rule: one voice leads and the others frame it (focal, secondary, texture, green).