MIGNIONETTE. 



182 



MIGNIONETTE. 



den soil will do ; and when grown in 

 the open air, they should be trained 

 against a wall. They are propagated 

 by cuttings of the ripened wood, 

 which cannot be struck without the 

 help of sand, bottom-heat, and a bell- 

 glass. 



Mignionette. — Reseda odorata. 

 — This well-known plant is generally 

 considered as an annual, and sown 

 every year as such ; but it is, in fact, 

 a shrub, and if preserved carefully 

 through the winter, in two or three 

 years its stem will become quite woody. 

 In this state it is called the tree Mig- 

 nionette, and is supposed by many to 

 be a different species. It is a native 

 of Barbary, and grows wild on the 

 sandy shore of Algiers. The name of 

 Mignionette, which is French for 

 " the little darling " is supposed to 

 have been given to it on account of 

 its seeds having been first sent to 

 England from Paris. It is rather 

 singular, however, that it should be 

 known by a French name in Eng- 

 land, while in France it is called by 

 its Latin name of Reseda. 



Mignionette should always be sown 

 in light, sandy soil, if possible ; as, 

 when grown in a rich loam, it loses 

 its fragrance. With a little manage- 

 ment, it may be contrived to have 

 Mignionette in flower every month dur- 

 ing the year without the aid of either 

 a regular gardener or a hothouse. In 

 order that the plants may flower in 

 winter, the seed should be sown in 

 the open border in July. Or, if it be 

 more convenient, the seeds may be 

 sown in pots in that month, placing 

 the pots in a balcony, outside a win- 

 dow, or in any situation where they 

 will have abundance of light and air. 

 In September, the plants should be 

 removed to the pots in which they 

 are to flower, and only a sufficient 

 number left in each to make the pots 

 look full without the plants being so 

 crowded as to occasion them to be 



drawn up. This number must, of 

 course, vary according to the size of 

 the pot ; but it should never exceed 

 eight, or be less than three. The 

 pots should then be taken into the 

 house, and placed in any convenient 

 situation in a room without afire, till 

 they have formed their blossom-buds, 

 which will be the latter end of Octo- 

 ber, when they should be removed to 

 a window in a room where there is a 

 fire ; when they will throw out abun- 

 dance of branches, and will continue 

 flowering beautifully during Novem- 

 ber, December, and January ; and, if 

 they are regularly watered every day, 

 till the following March. The seeds 

 of the plants which are to come into 

 flower in March to succeed them, 

 should be sown in pots at the latter 

 end of August, and the pots may be 

 placed in a spare bedroom, or in any 

 open shed, or other situation under 

 cover, where they will have plenty of 

 light, and can have air occasionally. 

 Early in November they should be 

 thinned out, or transplanted, so as to 

 leave only six or eight plants in a pot, 

 and these pots should be plunged into 

 a shallow box or packing-case, half 

 filled with coal-ashes, and placed in a 

 cellar, or back kitchen, or, in short, 

 any place where they will not have 

 much heat, and yet be protected from 

 frost. While in this situation, they 

 should be regularly watered once or 

 twice a week ; and as no light is bet- 

 ter than only a little, they may be 

 covered with a piece of old carpeting, 

 or an old ironing-blanket, supported 

 by a few sticks stuck in the earth, so 

 as to prevent it from crushing the 

 plants by its weight. In this situ- 

 ation, though they will become quite 

 blanched, they will grow freely, and 

 be well-shaped plants ; while, on the 

 contrary, if they had not been co- 

 vered, as they could not be put in a 

 window on account of the danger 

 from frost, they would have become 



