MIGNONETTE

Reseda odorata. Hardy annual



Mignonette is so much prized that we must devote to it a paragraph,

although there is little to be said. In many gardens plants appear year

after year from self-sown seeds, and it will therefore be evident that

Mignonette may be grown with the utmost simplicity. As a border plant we

have but to sow where it is to remain, at different times from March to

midsummer; the one important point is to make the bed very firm; in fact

the soil should be trodden hard. It is imperative to thin early and

severely, for any one plant left alone will soon be a foot in diameter,

and in some circumstances cover a much larger area. Where bees are kept

and space can be afforded, seed should be sown in quantity, for

Mignonette honey is of the finest quality in flavour and fragrance. In

pot culture it should be remembered that Mignonette does not transplant

well; therefore, having sown, say, a dozen seeds in each of a batch of

48-or 32-sized pots, firmly filled with rich porous soil to which a

little lime or mortar rubble has been added, the young plants must be

thinned down to five, or even three, in each pot, as soon as they begin

to grow freely. If small plants are wanted early, leave five in a pot;

if larger specimens are wanted later, leave only three, or even only

one. For winter and spring, sow in August and September and keep them as

hardy as possible until it becomes necessary to put them under glass for

the winter. A further sowing for succession may be made in January or

February. Several strains of different tints are now at the command of

cultivators of this favourite flower.