Reseda

Family Resedaceae. Name: derived from the Latin word 'resedare' - to heal, to soothe. In the past some species were used as analgesics.

Description: The genus includes about 50 species distributed in Southern Europe, Asia Minor and the Near East.

Annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous plants. Stems erect, prostrate or ascending. Leaves alternate, simple, entire or pinnately divided, green. Flowers small, greenish, yellowish or white, irregular, arranged in terminal racemose or spike-like inflorescences, with a fine, delicate fragrance. Fruit a capsule. 1 g contains 700-1000 seeds, which remain viable for 3–4 years.

Native to North Africa. The plant is annual or biennial. Stems 20–30 cm tall, forming a compact or loose, erect, pyramidal or almost prostrate bush, with ascending shoot tips. Leaves elongated, obovate, entire, smooth or wrinkled. Flowers small, inconspicuous, with whitish, greenish-yellow, orange or reddish anthers, which determine the flower color, gathered in dense pyramidal racemose inflorescences. They have a very delicate, pleasant fragrance. Blooms from June to October. Fruits abundantly. The fruit is a one-chambered, many-seeded capsule, open at the top. Seeds dark with a metallic sheen, remain viable for 3–4 years. They are collected before the capsules fully ripen, as they easily spill out. In cultivation since 1725, used medicinally and ritually since ancient times. It has many ornamental cultivars, among the most popular: 'Mache' - inflorescences large, whitish-reddish; 'Rubin' - inflorescences dense, copper-pink; 'Goliath' - inflorescences of a beautiful pyramidal form, intense red; 'Gabriel' - inflorescences reddish, dense, pyramidal; 'Victoria' - inflorescences dark brown.

Location: light-loving, frost-tolerant and moisture-loving.

Soil: prefers rich soils containing lime.

Care: responds very well to applications of mineral fertilizers.

Propagation: by sowing seeds directly in the ground at the end of April or in March in boxes. Shoots appear in 7–14 days, are pricked out into pots, and planted in the open ground with a soil clump, keeping a spacing of 15–25 cm between plants.

Uses: in group plantings, on balconies, for cutting and as a potted plant, suitable for winter forcing.

It has many ornamental cultivars, among the most popular: 'Mache' - inflorescences large, whitish-reddish; 'Rubin' - inflorescences dense, copper-pink; 'Goliath' - inflorescences of a beautiful pyramidal form, intense red; 'Gabriel' - inflorescences reddish, dense, pyramidal; 'Victoria' - inflorescences dark brown.