Potpourri - great aroma and decoration for your home
Use of fragrance and botanical materials dates back to 6,000 BC, as evidenced by the excavated tombs in ancient Egypt, records kept recounting trade routes and practices and archeological discoveries in cities of long ago. Reserved primarily for religious rituals in the temple, aromatic annointing oils, incense, and scented unguents were created by Egyptian priests.
The oldest and most reliable account of world history, the Bible, recounts the use of herbs, spices, incense and annointing oils. The Hebrews learned the use of perfume products from the Egyptians, burning incense with their sacrifices, and using annointing oils as part of their rituals. Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslums, Shintoists, incorporate scents into their ceremonies, rituals and worship.
Cleopatra (1st century, BC), used fragrance extravagantly, was skilled and knowledgeable about their allure. Famous for extravagance, Roman emperors had saffron spraying from fountains, and used as a strewing herb -- imagine the fragrance! Nero (1st century, AD) had flowers raining from his state dining room ceiling, with silver pipes hidden in the walls, which sprayed perfume on guests.
Between 11th to14th centuries, the use of fragrant botanicals spread to Europe and England. Much of this "new" knowledge and practices were brought home by the Crusaders. Regular trade routes were established, and these fragrant materials were traded in Arabia, Assyria, China, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Persia, and Rome. Wars broke out, in order to protect or obtain these invaluable trade routes.
Elizabeth I, Queen of England (1558-1603), enjoyed fresh-strewn herbs and retained a woman on salary, to provide in-season materials. Additionally, she hired a husband-wife "team" to prepare her distillations. Techniques of distillation and enfluerage were well-known, by this time in herbal history, and an industrious woman could establish a garden, dry materials for sachets and potpourri, distill toilet waters and essences from garden-grown fragrant materials. Essential oils were extracted from plants, more delicate flowers were steeped in oil or wine, to release their scents. Use of pure alcohol to create perfumes was not a practice yet.
Perfumed oils were used in bathing rituals, as soap was nonexistant. The ritual: after soaking in a hot bath, oils were massaged on, then scraped, along with dirt and impurities, leaving a fragrance. These fragrances acted as detergents, deodorant and insecticides!
Herbal extracts were used not only for bathing, but also home keeping - furniture and floor polishing, strewn herbs to deter pests, and as fragrant seats. Herbs chosen for these applications: basil, chamomile, hyssop, lavender, marjoram, rosemary, rue, sage, southernwood, sweet flag, tansy, thyme, woodruff, wormwood.
From the early days of herbal history, herbs were used for medicinal purposes. To prevent disease, often pomanders were made up of various herbs, such as: ambergris, benzoin, cassia, cloves, musk, and orris.
Potpourri - A Beautiful Blend
Potpourri is a blend of fragrant botanical materials comprised of barks, flowers, gums, resins, roots, seeds, and woods, which if properly blended, and the scent is allowed to fully develop before setting out, will retain its fragrance for months. Great personal gifts for friends, home uses for portpourri are endless -- scenting closets, cupboards, stationery; adding a scented touch to any room, displayed in baskets, bowls, or other containers. Some special blends repel moths.
There are two methods to prepare potpourri:
The dry method, is a blend of crisp, dry, scented botanical materials, combined for scent as well as as appearance.
The moist method, includes fresh scented materials, which ferment in crocks for a period of weeks, before setting out.
Simmering Potpuorri
Designed originally for use on woodstoves, simmering potpourris used in this way, help fragrance and add moisture to the air. Most often this type of potpourri is placed in electric simmering crockpots or candle-heated simmer pots. Usually, simmering potpourris can be reused more than once, if drained and allowed to air dry after use; add water again, to repeat process. With a few adjustments in botanical selections, simmering potpourri is made in the same way as decorative blends. Selected mainly for fragrance: flowers, fragrant seeds, herbs, spices, essential oils are used.
Decorative Potpourri
Blending fragrant combinations of botanicals to make one predominant scent -- or mood is the goal. Always concot potpourris in a well-ventilated place, so that you will not be overcome by the overwhelming scents!
When mixing a potpourri from a recipe or formula, always measure and weigh botanicals, beginning with the heaviest materials: barks, roots, spices; then add the lighter, more delicate flowers and leaves for texture, by gently combining and stirring, to combine. Adding the fixative which helps to hold the fragrance, generally calculated at 15-25%, based on weight of the blend, is the next step. Using an eyedropper, add 1/2 essential oils called for in the formula, stirring and analyzing the fragrance -- is more needed to achieve the desired scent? Adjust accordingly.
When blending is completed, potpourri in a glass container with a non reactive lid, storing in a cool, dry, dark place for two weeks. This aging process allows all the different fragrances in the potpourri to blend. Remember: you cannot ruin a potpourri blend -- alter the fragrance by adding more botanicals and/or oils.
A potpourri may also be created beginning with a base blend, a complete potpourri in its own right, with a predominating scent (ie, citrus, floral, herb, spice, woody, etc.). In this case, botanicals are added for color and texture, for eye appeal.
The formula for this type of potpourri: "Scented Base" + Fixative + Essential Oils/Fragrance Oils + Botanicals for Color/Fragrance = Finished Potpourri
Blending Essentials
- Glass, or glazed ceramic bowls for mixing potpourri blends
- Glass or stainless steel measuring cups
- Stainless steel spoons, for mixing
- Glass jars with tight-fitting lids to store potpourri while aging (recomend non-reactive lids)
- Eyedroppers, for adding essential oils to potpourri blends
- Motar and pestle, to crush or bruise seeds
- Blender, grain mill, spice grinder or coffee-type mill (thoroughly cleaned, if ever previously used)
- A small sharp knife for slicing Stainless skewers, to pierce fruit for pomanders.
Special Hints:
- Do NOT use any plastic bowls, jars, or utensils, as they absorb and retain odors.
- Do NOT use wooden spoons, as they absorb oils and fragrance.
- Do NOT use kitchen equipment to mix potpourri, returning it to kitchen afterward.for safety.
- Use amber or dark glass jars for storing potpourri, while aging.
- Using two small bottles (up to about 4oz size), add high quality grain alcohol, using one to clean the eye droppers, the second to remove any traces of oil.
- If using essential oils (not fragrance oils), when the alcohol is changed in the small jars used for previously for cleaning, adjust alcohol with addition of desired essential oil, to make a cologne!
Caution: Orris root and orris root powder are commonly-used fixatives in potpourri formulas. Orris root, and the very finely powdered orris root may cause allergic reactions. Great caution in handling this material in blending, as well as the finished potpourri is recommended.
Potpourri Tips
Where to get your ingredients:
Ask at the florist's for any discarded flowers, or dry out your own flowers.
Making the potpourri
To make the potpourri you basically need four main ingredients:
- Flowers & leaves
- Essential oils
- Spices and Herbs
Fixative
Harvesting your ingredients:
Handle your herbs and flowers carefully to avoid bruising them. Once they are bruised, they are of no value for their essential oils.
The best time to collect leaves, roots, flowers and seeds is in the morning after the dew has evaporated.
Choose plants that are clean, free of any pests or diseases. Choose flowers that are newly opened.
Always collect four times the amount you will need for the final potpourri mix as flowers, leaves etc shrink when dried.
Drying Method: The drying process usually takes up to two weeks. Keep in a warm dark place that has good air circulation. There are two processes for drying flowers and herbs.
Air Drying: Using a window screen works quite well. It allows air circulation around the plant material. Place the flowers and or herbs in a single layer. Do not pack them tightly together or on top of each other or they will decompose. Takes about one week to be completely dried out.
Hanging: Collect together in small bunches, tie the stems off with elastic or string. Hang them upside down to dry out.
Storing: Store your "new" potpourri in airtight containers or plastic bags. Store in a cool dark place until needed.
Instructions:
After Potpourri is made & dried, add 6 drops of your favorite essential oil to every cup of dried potpourri mix. Keep it in a closed container for a few weeks to sllow scent to penatrate plant material. Stir the mixture daily.
Displaying and Enjoying Your Decorative Potpourri
Best shown off in open containers, dry-method potpourris may be both an aromatic and a decorative touch to your surroundings. When properly blended, these fragrant mixtures retain delicate colors and scents of the plant materials used. As such an accesory, coordinate the container with the room, furnishings, and overall scheme. Suitable containers for displaying potpourri are virtually limitless, and many are already somewhere in your home!
Some ideas: baskets, bottles, bowls, jars, pottery, shells, vases.
Inspirations for creative displays: layer potpourri in varied bands in glass jars; place potpourri in a silk flower-filled vase; incorporate minatures to create a theme or scene in a chosen container.
Make small sachets with the potpourri blend: as lovely enclosures in gifts and cards, these make them more special; also tuck under furniture cushions.
Source: Herbaltreas.com and Chennaionline.com