Mignonette

MIGNONETTE, Rescda odorat

A PLANT may have no history, and yet be full of fame. It is so with the mignonette, which was unknown to the authors of the best of our old English gardening books, and the history of which may be written on the thumbnail. It is a plentiful weed in Northern Africa, and more particularly in Egypt, whence it travelled to Italy, and made its way northward. In 1742 Lord Bateman saw it in the Royal Garden of Paris, and secured seed for its introduction to this country, where it soon became as famous as in France, its delightfully fresh perfume being a sufficient recommendation. The French gave it the familiar name it bears of "little darling," and none would desire to improve upon that. It is never spoken of as a reseda except in botanic gardens, and the most enlightened company would be nonplussed if one were to remark on the sweetness of Reseda odorata without at the same time giving it the name by which it is more commonly known.

The mignonette is an annual or a perennial, at the command of the cultivator. At the moment of writing this we have near at hand plants of gigantic stature, that have flowered almost continuously winter and summer through a term of seven years, and appear capable of continuing the delightful performance for seven years more, if aided with a reasonable amount of care. Any one who has a greenhouse may easily grow mignonette to a great size, say, for example, to the stature of a man, and of breadth proportionate to form a noble tree, the two requisites being a rich light soil and complete immunity from frost, in a house well supplied with air and light. At the moment of writing this we can see on a garden border a patch of self-sown mignonette, and by this example we can rank it with the weeds of the garden. Indeed, for many years past we have always had as much outdoor mignonette as we needed without sowing a single grain of seed. The self-sown plants scatter seed freely, and we have to destroy a considerable number of the plants that appear uninvited and in excess of requirements. Thus we have presented the two extremes of mignonette culture; but we must add that the pot culture of mignonette is the most remunerative, for well-grown specimens are unique in beauty, and their fragrance in the conservatory or dwelling-house is invaluable.