Growing Cut Flowers & Making Tussie-Mussies.

Have you ever had a desire to grow your own organic vegetables and herbs? So many of us have started our garden journey this way. But what about growing your own organic flowers for cutting? It seems that growing our own cut flowers has yet to be a common, every-day aspect of gardening for most of us now. I remember generous gardeners who took great delight in cutting bunches and posies of flowers from their gardens as gifts, or creating beautiful bespoke wedding bouquets, and overflowing arrangements for the church or local hall. It seems these old-fashioned ideas of generosity are less common now than they once were.

I started off gardening by growing my own herbs as a way of providing fresh, organic herbs for the kitchen. From there I started drying herbs so they could be used out of season. And I also began to cut herb flowers, leaves and seed heads to create fragrant small posies and even wreaths to give as gifts. My enthusiasm for growing herbs for more than culinary purposes began to become something of an obsession!

There were fragrant herbs hanging in the kitchen, much to my adolescent children's dismay, and I began to give small talks and workshops on how to grow and use them. And as I researched more about herbs in books and magazine articles (this was well before Google was even a word) I discovered Tussie-Mussies!

These small posies created using fragrant herbs and flowers could be cut straight from the herb garden, gathered into pretty posies, and given as gifts or tokens of appreciation. The strong fragrance of the herbs and flowers are a delightful aspect of these little posies.

Dating from medieval times as bunches of herbs worn or carried to dispel unsavoury sanitary smells, these tiny posies were potently fragrant. The posy would be brought up to the nose to sniff and momentarily disguise any unpleasant fumes. Hence these posies of fragrant herbs also became known as 'nose-gays'; a delightful little name to describe its use and purpose.

In Victorian times, Tussie-Mussies were given as tokens of affection, with individual flowers and herbs having a specific meaning. While strong smelling herbs were still used, rosemary held a dual purpose, providing a strong fragrance of remembrance. Forget-me-nots, as well as being pretty blue flowers, held an obvious meaning.

In the 19th Century, Victorian Tussie-Mussies usually had a small rosebud at its centre, each colour having its own meaning. There are various lists of different meanings for each coloured rosebud now available, but back then they would have had a meaning understood by both giver and recipient. A small white rosebud of course referred to virtue and purity, while a red rosebud is still understood today to mean love and desire.

I love to create Tussie-Mussies using flowers and herbs I have dried, including seed heads. Dried Tussie-Mussies make sweet gifts that give long lasting scent and colour. Lots of herbs and flowers dry beautifully. And rosebuds are just gorgeous dried, retaining a whisper of their fragrance too. Or Tussie-Mussies can be made fresh and then easily dried by the recipient to keep as a long lasting memento. Just keep your nose-gay away from direct sunlight to help prevent the colour and fragrance fading too quickly.

And growing herbs and flowers for Tussie-Mussies doesn't require a large garden or extensive acreage. A small, modest sized garden, or even a balcony garden of pots filled with herbs such as Rosemary, Lavender, Dill, and perhaps a Rose, will yield enough stems to make a gorgeous posy that will be loved by its recipient. Rosemary in flower (excuse our dog, Millie, in this photo) is a lovely addition to the posy, providing both scent and colour.

Creating a Tussie-Mussie is quite simple once you have the basic technique. Take your central flower, usually a Rosebud and add circles (or rows) of one type of herb per row.

Add 3 or 4 consecutive rows finishing with the largest leaf. I have often finished off with a row of Lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina). Tie off with a pretty ribbon or raffia.

Nothing is more delightful than receiving a fragrant Tussie-Mussie. They make lovely Baby Shower gifts (colour code the rosebud if you like), Bridal Shower gifts and Flower Girl posies. Tiny versions of Tussie-Mussies also make delightful Buttonholes while a larger version makes a wonderful, fragrant Posy for the Bride. The Bride can then dry her Tussie-Mussie and its fragrance will be a reminder of her wedding day for years to come.

We also do lovely Botanical Workshops where we show you hands-on how to create Tussie-Mussies. So if you live near the Hunter Region of NSW, and have a Bridal Shower or just a small group of friends who would enjoy making beautiful posies, contact me via our website, or Instagram @lillianheirloomroses.

It would be my delight to personally show you and your friends how to make these lovely fragrant Tussie-Mussies.

Enjoy,

Lillian xx