262 THE FLORIST AND 



'MIGNONETTE IN WINTER. 

 Reseda Odorata, or Mignonette is a native of Africa, and has 

 been in cultivation rather more than a century; poets have im- 

 mortalised it as "the fragrant weed," and, although a plant of 

 humble appearance there are few flower gardens considered com- 

 plete without a small patch of mignouette. It is of easy culture 

 in the border during summer, requiring, however, a deep, well en- 

 riched soil to enable it to grow luxuriantly in hot dry weathqr. To 

 produce it in pots during winter requires a little more care ; those 

 who have the convenience of a greenhouse, will find room for a 

 dozen pots on the front shelf; where no such convenience exists, the 

 parlour window ma} r be supplied all through the winter, with the 

 assistance of a close glazed frame. Damp is perhaps, its greatest 

 enemy, if kept dry a few degrees of frost will not materially injure 

 it. Pots or small portable boxes are most convenient for growing it 

 in winter, if these latter, are made to fit the window intended for 

 their reception, a fresh box can be introduced when required, and 

 the plants will thus present a constant healthy appearance. A 

 friend of mine who always has it in great profusion, grows it in a 

 small pit running along the front of his greenhouse; where a lasting 

 and abundant supply is desired, this is the best method I have ever 

 seen practised. Usually there is a front shelf of more or less breadth 

 in all greenhouses, if this was made portable a small pit might be 

 constructed underneath, thus affording a fine site for flowering 

 roses, heliotrope, mignonette, &c, in winter, the shelf could be re- 

 placed when the pit was unoccupied. To have it to flower in Jan- 

 uary, seed should be put in from the first to the middle of Sep- 

 tember. Particular care will be required in the preparation of the 

 soil with regard to drainage, as it will not succeed well unless water 

 finds a ready access through the soil. A tolerably rich, loamy soil 

 should be used, and the pots filled firmly to within half an inch of 

 the top, made smooth and level, the seed sown and slightly covered 

 with fine soil ; five inch pots are as suitable as any ; thin out the 

 young plants gradually as they grow, until they are reduced to four 

 or five in each pot. Excess of water should now be avoided, and 

 protection afforded against heavy rains. The roots speedily find 



