A Victorian Flower Dictionary - Mandy Kirkby [20]
MIGNONETTE
Your Qualities Surpass Your Charms
Tulips lack scent, roses have thorns,
On one my heart is set,
Come, blossom on my window sill,
Quiet, fragrant mignonette.
ANON.
To work in the garden on a summer morning amongst the hum of bees and the chatter of birds, and to catch on a warm breeze the perfume of the mignonette, is to know a moment of old paradise. Outwardly a shrubby plant of modest and unassuming proportions, it does not ravish the eye, but its sweet scent is magnificent and quite unforgettable, said to be stronger at the rising and setting of the sun. It is the virtues that lie within, not without, that are signified by this flower.
The mignonette is a native of the East, introduced into Europe in classical times, and was grown in the physic garden for use as a sedative: its botanical name, Reseda, suggests ‘calming’. It had to wait until the nineteenth century before it was fully appreciated as a flower of distinction, and then its fame spread so quickly that no garden of taste was without its delicious scent. In France, where the plant was simply called réséda, the Empress Josephine had set the fashion by establishing it in her famous garden at Malmaison after Napoleon had mignonette seed sent back from Egypt, its natural home, when he was on campaign there. It first became popular amongst the French aristocracy, and then more widely cultivated at home and abroad; perfect for the balcony, where its breath of garden air would mask the smell of the dirty city streets.
By the end of the nineteenth century the mignonette was a great favourite of people from all walks of life; a garden-party delight as well as ‘God’s little comforter’ in many a humble home. It could be grown under the window in a small garden or shown off to the limit in a Wedgwood mignonette planter. The cut flowers made fine evening posies and, slipped into a small vase, gave a delightful perfume for ladies’ boudoirs or an invalid’s room. Mignonette, heliotrope and white carnations made a perfect courtship bouquet: ‘Your qualities surpass your charms, you are beautiful within as well as without. Sweet and lovely, I am devoted to you.’
from MIGNONETTE (LITTLE DARLING)
a ballad with words and music, 1895
Mignonette, little darling!
Ever dearest to my heart,
Like the flow’ret could I pluck thee,
Never from me shoulds’t thou part:
While thy beauty kept its freshness
It would gladden e’er my eyes,
And when flow’ret like it faded
I would but the more thee prize.
Mignonette, little darling!
Heaven on thee blessings pour,
Mignonette, little darling!
I will love thee evermore.
SUCHET CHAMPION
MISTLETOE
I Surmount All Obstacles
On a winter’s day, when the sun is low and the shadows long, the mistletoe is revealed in all its unearthly beauty, hoisted high in the leafless trees. It appears to have no roots, no means by which it can obtain nutrients and water, and yet remains fresh and green when everything around is lifeless. Surely it cannot live? And yet, against all the odds, the mistletoe flourishes.
The plant is associated with an ancient Scandinavian legend of the god Balder, who dreams that he is dying. His mother charms fire, disease, water and everything in nature she can think of, and makes them promise never to harm her son, but she overlooks the mistletoe because it seems too weak to do him any injury. But Balder’s enemy, Loki, magics a mistletoe dart and slays him.
Ancient reverence for this mysterious plant bestowed on it magical powers, especially if it was found growing on an oak tree.