The Best Forms of Mignonette 
Reseda odorata ( Mignonette ). — This very 
charming and well-known plant has been im- 
proved by cultivation in some ways and yet not 
much improved in others. The larger and 
better-filled spike is certainly a gain, but it is 
very doubtful whether growers have proceeded 
on right lines in trying to make it a showy 
flower. The beauty and true charm of Mignon- 
ette lie in its sweet scent and modesty of 
colouring, and it may be noted that the sweetest- 
scented of all is the cheapest sort that is sold by 
weight. Where there are so many flowers of 
brilliant colouring for the adornment of our 
gardens we may well leave Mignonette alone 
with its own modest colour and incomparable 
sweetness. For these reasons the kind called 
Miles’s Spiral is one of the best, for the colour is 
but little altered, and it has a fine spike and 
excellent scent. Mignonette should be sown 
thinly where it is to flower. 
Rhodanthe maculata and R. Manglesii ; 
h.h.a. ; 12 inches. — Pretty pink flowers with 
papery petals that are among the kinds known 
as Everlastings, as they can be dried for winter 
decoration. They are better in pots in the 
conservatory than out of doors. 
Ricinus ( Castor Oil Plant) ; h.h.a. — Large 
plants of handsome foliage. R. communis is the 
largest ; the variety sanguineus has leaves and 
stems of a reddish-purple colour. R. Gibsoni, 
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