white upright mignonette, Reseda alba

Mignonettes are an truly old fashioned garden flower. These days we seem to be more into things with great big showy petals. I can't remember ever seeing white upright in a modern garden outside the demonstration plots at Beal Gardens. But clearly they were once popular, because they grow wild in many places far from their Eurasian and North African home. Even Malta can't figure out if they're native or not. Of course, with Malta's history, that must be the case with a lot of life there. In places farther afield, like Australia, they are clearly introduced. Here they have been reported from CA, CT, DE, IL, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, VT, WA, BC, MB, ON, QC, and SK. Beal Garden, MSU, 7/27/11. Mignonette family, Resedaceae.