The Scents of Christmas

With Christmas just on the horizon, the heritage rose gardens are taking a back seat while the gardener takes a breather!!

And although I had planned to have many more beds created and ready to plant out with some very precious heritage roses, they too have had to be put on hold for a little while longer.

For these new gardens, I have sourced some very special heritage roses that I haven't grown before, so I am excited to be planning new planting schemes for them. But with lots of family time ahead, and the planning that goes into that time, these will have to wait until the New Year.

These roses that I have sourced for the heritage rose gardens are very, very old and have been in cultivation for centuries. One of these is the old Damask rose, Kazanlik (pre-dating 1612), with a strong rose fragrance that is still handpicked and used in perfumery. I am very excited to have this rose, along with other highly fragrant heritage roses. I plan to use these in my scented petal and apothecary blends which I will be creating in very special small batches next year.

While planning lovely garden beds with these old heritage roses is limited to my imagination, plot size and ability to garden, it seems the planning to create gorgeous scented and apothecary petal mixes is much trickier. There is a lot of science as well as alchemy in this process, which I am looking forward to.

Right now, I'm also dreaming up luxury materials and packaging that not only look beautiful, but more importantly, preserve the fragrance and scent of these precious petals for as long as possible. I'm hoping that these beautifully scented petals will provide great pleasure and even comfort to all those who use them.

Some of these scented petals will be blended to create soothing sleep sachets that can be inserted under pillows and between sheets to waft a sweet, rose scented fragrance that is known to help induce rest. Others will be blended and stored in glass apothecary jars, so that the petals can be used as potpourri for a safe, colourful and refreshing room fragrance.

The alchemy of creating these blends will be a fascinating process, drawn from knowledge passed down by herbalists through the ages, and where combining different scents from the heritage roses is an art itself.

Which is why I am growing a range of roses that have different fragrances, from the 'old-rose' scent through to spicy, and even fruity fragrances.

I look forward to sharing this process and the 'limited edition' range of scented petals with you next year.

It seems fitting to be thinking about the range of scents and fragrances that I hope to create from my heritage roses, as Christmas also seems to have its own fragrance. This might be different for many people, but for me the scent of a fresh pine tree, and cloves and spices are synonymous with Christmas.

I hope that there are special scents that invoke happy memories for you at this Christmas time. May you have a safe and peace filled Christmas celebration.

Until next year ...

xx Lillian