Spray Antique Pink Stock is a Japanese heirloom that brings the delicate charm of apple blossoms to the garden, with ivory and rose-tinted petals that release a heavenly clove-like fragrance. This spray-type cultivar grows to about 2 feet tall and produces lightly ruffled blooms across abundant side branches, flowering 90 to 110 days from sowing. Beyond its ornamental appeal, the edible flowers carry a distinctive clove essence that makes them a prized ingredient for baking and garnishing, connecting food and fragrance in a single plant.
Full Sun
Moderate
6-10
?in H x ?in W
—
High
Hover over chart points for details
The flowers capture the soft coloring of apple blossoms and release an intoxicating clove-like scent that lingers in the air. As a spray type, the plant naturally branches into a full, branching form rather than a single stem, rewarding you with dozens of blooms from one planting. The petals are both beautiful and edible, with a flavor that bakers have treasured for generations, making this one of the few ornamental flowers that genuinely improves what you bake.
The petals are prized for flavoring baked goods, where their clove-like essence perfumes cookies and cakes with subtle spice. The flowers work beautifully as fresh cut arrangements in the vase, where their fragrance fills a room. Many gardeners grow stocks specifically to harvest blooms for both arrangements and culinary use, or simply to enjoy the scent in the garden.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost. Sow seeds on the surface of moist seed-starting mix and keep at around 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit in bright light. Seeds germinate in 7 to 10 days; thin seedlings to individual cells once they develop true leaves.
Harden off seedlings over 7 to 10 days by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions. Transplant into the garden after the last frost date, when soil is workable. Space plants 12 inches apart in full sun.
Cut flower stems in the early morning when blooms are fully open, using clean sharp scissors. For culinary use, harvest individual petals or small clusters when they are fully colored and fragrant. Flowers are at peak flavor and fragrance when freshly opened; use them immediately for best results.
No heavy pruning is required due to the spray type's naturally branching habit. Deadhead spent flowers regularly to encourage continuous blooming throughout the season. Remove any yellowed or diseased foliage at the base to maintain plant health and appearance.
Enter your ZIP code to see a personalized growing calendar for this plant.
“This variety hails from Japan, where stocks have long held a special place in home gardening and ikebana, the traditional art of flower arranging. Japanese gardeners prized stocks not only as cut flowers but as plants that could be worked into the home and even into the kitchen, blending ornamental and culinary uses in ways that Western gardeners are only now rediscovering. The spray-type form, which naturally produces multiple flowering branches, became a signature style in Japanese cultivation.”