Creating your own home made Pot Pourri is so satisfying. You can grow your own flowers and herbs,or purchase dried botanicals and then be incorporated into your own personal recipes that contain your own special energy. A trip to your spice market or wholefoods store will provide deliciously fragranced things such as bulk cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves and more.
There are myriads of wonderful botanical ingredients you can use in your blends. They look wonderful, are creative and satisfying to make, and best of all, smell delicious! Why not have a go?
Firstly I will list my basic blend, and then a few alternatives you might like to try, and lastly suggestions for all sorts of plants and spices you might not have thought of including.
Many will be found in your own garden or kitchen cupboard!
Basic Dry Pot Pourri Mix
This is a guide or base recipe to work from.
- 900g of your main fragrance item (ie could be Rose petals or Lavender flowers , or Lemon Verbena leaves)
- 200 - 300g of complementary herbs and leaves (ie could be lemon balm, mint or bay leaves)
- Up to 50g or 60g of spices - slightly crushed (ie cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, coriander seeds, cinnamon sticks etc)
- 40 - 60g dried citrus round or peel (these can be purchased or dried by you in a low oven - these are favourites of mine)
- 40g Orris Root Powder or Sandalwood Powder (fixatives to help hold the scent)
Essential Oils or Fragrance of choice
*Essential Oils are more volatile than fragrance, so if using these to complement the botanicals you'll need to freshen the mix more frequently.
Method:
- Mix together all the dried flowers and leaves in a large mixing bowl, preferably not plastic or one that you won't need to cook with again. (Large ice cream buckets are my favourite).
- Slightly crush the hard spices/herbs/pods by either using a mortar and pestle or place in a paper bag on a chopping board and a couple of good whacks with the flat side of a hammer should do the trick! (You may need to grate some such as whole orris root or nutmeg).
- Add these to the mixture and mix around well with your fingers. This is a good time just to feel the moment - close your eyes and gentle inhale the aromas - just delicious!
- Add the essential oils if you feel they are necessary - they may not be - one drop at a time and then mix well. Overfragrancing will spoil your blend, so just gently waft your hand over the bowl to check the strength of the aroma.
- Place this mixture into a large strong plastic bag and seal well. Store in a cool dry place and shake daily to turn the ingredients over together and help blend the scents. Over this time the scents will blend and round out and won't smell so raw.
- After this time the blend is ready for use!
*If you wish to add a dash of colour of a flower or two and not have them tossed and turned every day, just add these when your have filled your bowl for display.
Some recipes to get your started ....
Lovely Old Fashioned Rose Pot Pourri
This is a beauty to start with as it contains easy to source dry ingredients.
170g Rose Petals
20g Lemon Verbena leaves
20g Bay Leaves - crumbled
20g decorative flowers of choice
2 Cinnamon sticks - crumbled
20g dried orange peel
20g sandalwood or orris root powder
Essential Oils of choice
The next two have come about and are named after two of our best selling hand made soaps.
Rose Lavanium Pot Pourri
100g rose petals
50g lavender flowers
20g marjoram
20g thyme
20g rosemary
2 tbsp orange peel crushed or 10 citrus "rounds"
2 tbls cloves
1 tblsp allspice whole - crushed
20g orris root or Sandalwood Powder
4 drops of Lavender Essential Oil, 3 drops of Rose Geranium Essential Oil - however if you don't have these essential oils, use your oils of choice
Lemon & Lavender Pot Pourri
50g Lemon Verbena leaves
70g Lavender floweres
20g Spearmint leaves
20g Marjoram leaves
1 tbl spoon green cardamom pods - crushed
1 tbl spoon mace crushed
20g orris root or Sandalwood Powder
A few drops of Lavender Essential Oil, 2 drops of Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil
and one drop of Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil - however if you don't have these essential oils, use your oils of choice
A Touch of the East
100g Rose Petals or buds
50g Jasmine Flowers
1 tablespoon of Green Cardamom Pods (crushed)
2 tablespoons Coriander Seeds (crushed)
1 tablespoon of Juniper Berries (crushed)
20g Sandalwood Powder
Suggested Essential oils: 10 drops Ylang Ylang Essential Oil, 5 drop Patchouli Essential Oil and 5 drops Jasmine Absolute 3% in Jojoba
I have listed below some ingredients you might like to try and may not have thought of using in a handmade pot pourri . We see so many brightly over-coloured over-scented commercial blends around, we can forget the wonders of the naturally blended botanicals. I will give you a list including the obvious to the not so obvious!
Dried Herbs & Flowers to Inspire You:
Basil
Bay
Borage
Carnations
Chamomile
Delphinium (what a gorgeous blue!)
Eau de cologne mint
Elderflowers
Everlasting flowers
Geranium leaves (also referred to as Scented Pelargoniums)
Honeysuckle flowers
Hydrangea flowers
Jasmine flowers
Lavender
Lemon balm
Lemon verberna
Lilac flowers
Marigold and Calendula
Marjoram
Nasturiums
Nicotiana
Orange blossom flowers
Pansies
Passionflower
Peppermint
Poppy petals
Rose petals
Rosemary
Salvia
Spearmint
Stocks
Tansy
Thyme - all varieties including delicious citrus ones are available
Wallflowers
Woodruff
Wormwood
Zinnias
Spices & Other Ingredients to Inspire you:
Allspice berries
Blade mace
Cinnamon sticks
Citrus slices - commercially dried or your own
Cloves
Dried lemon peel
Dried lime peel
Dried orange peel
Juniper berries
Nutmeg - whole
Orris root powder
Sandalwood chips or powder
Vanilla pods
Useful Essential Oils to blend with your ingredient choices such as:
Cedarwood Essential Oil
Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil
Clove Bud Essential Oil
Geranium Egyptian Essential Oil
Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil
Lemon Essential Oil
Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil
Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil
Nutmeg Essential Oil
Valencia Orange Essential Oil
Patchouli Essential Oil
Rose Absolute 3% in Jojoba - though using English Rose fragrance is a more economical option
Rose Geranium Essential Oil
Spearmint Essential Oil
Peppermint Essential Oil
Sweet Bay Essential Oil
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