Picture Picnic 🅿🅿: Pink and Purple Stocks Flowers

Stock flowers, also called Matthiola, is a highly fragrant cottage garden favourite.

We are this time taking a look at how to make a large abundant arrangement using a mix of pink and purple stock.

This series of blog posts - called 'Creative with Flowers' - are about using flowers in creative ways. It could be about how the flowers are combined - maybe in a little bit of an unusual way. It might be the choice of vase - maybe not a vase at all but a container that could be anything from jugs, bottles, jars, tins or teapots - vintage or new it doesn't matter.

As usual my arrangements will be quick and easy - and there will always be lots and lots of colour!

Oh, all those pretty, pink, and delicate flowers!

Two different purple colours - all from my local farmer's market.

I have used a white vase that I recently found at a charity store for very little money. The outside has a interesting heavily textured surface.

It's not old but I guess someone just didn't want it anymore and handed it in to the charity store. And then I came along and liked it.....! So now I have a fabulous "new" prop vase to use for my flower arrangements.

I wanted to make the arrangement look as big as possible without mixing in any other flowers or foliage.

What I did was to keep as many of the leaves as I could - to help it look full and generous.

The flowers are quite delicate and can easily fall off their little stems however careful you are.

Don't throw them away! Gather them up and do what I have done here. Put them in a small bowl with a little bit of water and let the flowers float on the surface.

One last little bit of practical advice: Cut away any white parts at the bottom of the stems as they will not take up water.

Enjoy your flower arranging and have a fabulous and floral Wednesday!

Thank you for visiting 'Of Spring and Summer' - I will be back on Friday with some more floral delights.

Ingrid

~ xoxo ~

[Styling, photography and text © Ingrid Henningsson/Of Spring and Summer.]

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Scented stocks are one of my favourite flowers and what's so great about them is that they are available for many months of the year - usually from January to August, but they peak from about March - July.

They come in quite a few colours - white, cream, burgundy and like here in purple, lilac, pale pink and cerise pink.

They are usually called scented stocks - their botanical name is Matthiola - named after the Italian physician and botanist Pierandrea Mattiola (1500-1577). Stocks were popular in Elizabethan gardens, where their spicy fragrance led them to be called 'gillyflower' a popular name for any flower with a strong, clove like scent.

When you get them home - trim the stems and especially cut away any white parts of the stem as they will not take up water. Also remove any leaves that would end up below the water level in the vase.

These small containers are tea-light holders and I have simply put one of the little flowers in each cup - floating in some water. They only last for about a day but can easily be replaced with new ones.

The container I have used is a vintage pickling jar with tall straight sides. They will hold even quite tall flowers and it's big enough to take a large bunch which is useful if you want to make an arrangement with some impact.

Stocks looks fabulous on their own but is very versatile and can be mixed with peonies, Alchemilla mollis as well as many other flowers.

I love the soft colours, the sweet scent and the delightfully frothiness of the individual flowers. It's a flower that has a romantic and cottage feel to it - as well as its being contemporary and timeless in design.