I wrote my quadrille Night‑Scented Stock for the dVerse Poets Quadrille Monday prompt hosted by Lilian. The form is 44 words, title excluded, and must contain the word bloom or a direct variant — bloomed, blooming, bloomin’. Synonyms don’t meet the prompt.
this still night
heaven sent
a scent
lit only by the stars
to swoon
in sweet ascent
wafting
around the moon
then return
come dawn
to sleep
by daylight
in repose—
a humble bloom
that cannot compete
with lily or rose
except at night
—Lesley Scoble, May 2026
NOTE
Night‑scented stock (Matthiola longipetala)
Night‑scented stock is a modest annual that saves its performance for after dark. By day the flowers look slightly crumpled, pale mauve or grey‑lilac, often overlooked beside showier bedding plants. But as light fades, the petals loosen and the plant releases a strong, sweet, almost clove‑like fragrance that can fill an entire garden corner.
It thrives in poor, well‑drained soil and prefers neglect to fussing. The flowers open widest in still air, and the scent intensifies on warm nights. Botanically unremarkable, it is grown almost entirely for this nocturnal perfume — a plant whose true life begins when the rest of the border shuts down.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks to d’Verse Poets and Lilian for the bloomin’ great prompt.
And my thanks to you, the reader, for spending this time with me.
LesleyScoble.com 
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