Mignonette, 'Ameliorata'

(Reseda odorata) At first sight, mignonette hardly seems a plant to inspire such rich history and lore as it does: an unkempt and sprawly plant with loose spikes of tiny non-descript cream-colored flowers with orange anthers. I’ll admit, when we grew it for the first time and saw it in the field in late spring, we were a bit disappointed. The plant, whose name means “little darling” in French and is thought to be native to the Mediterranean basin, was introduced to French gardeners in the mid-18th century. Known for its intoxicating fresh scent (sometimes likened to violets), it fast became popular in London and other European cities at a time when there were frankly more than enough less pleasant scents to go around. Legends of the plant abound through the years including a French Fairy tale involving a theme of “finding beauty within” and a story of Napolean sending seeds from a campaign in Egypt to Empress Josephine for her garden at Château de Malmaison. After initially being under