Ingredients to Make Potpourri

Create your own potpourri at home.

Scented potpourri adds natural, fresh fragrance to your home. Use potpourri in open containers or in sachets to freshen closets, drawers and rooms. Create your own potpourri with a variety of ingredients provided by nature. Combine them with a few staples from the kitchen and some simple ingredients to create scents that are appealing to your taste.

Flowers and Leaves

Gather leaves and flowers from the garden early in the day and lay them out on a screen or newspaper to dry. Select flowers that are just opening to get the full benefit of their essential oils. Select a variety of flowers for both scent and appearance when dried, selecting for color as well as scent. Keep small flowers and buds whole. For larger flowers, remove and discard imperfect leaves and pull the remaining leaves off to dry individually. Roses, hibiscus, chamomile and carnations are highly fragrant choices. Hang leaf stems to dry or strip leaves off stems and dry individually. Sage, rosemary, eucalyptus, bay and thyme leaves are aromatic leaf additions.

Nuts, Seeds and Bark

Collect seeds and seedpods from spent flowers. Leave them whole or crush the seedpods onto paper to dry on a screen. At the end of the flowering season, seeds will dry on the flower heads and be ready to use. Acorns, pine cones and other conifer cones add bulk and texture to potpourri, as well as a fresh scent. Pecans, walnuts and other shelled nuts add further interest. Include aromatic bark from pine, spruce, cedar or fir trees for a woody scent. Cinnamon sticks are a pleasantly-scented bark to add to potpourri.

Fruits and Berries

Dried oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruits add a citrus fragrance and mix well with woody and flowery scents. Dry thin slices for textural appeal and use slices of peel with pulp removed for more intense fragrance. Berries from a variety of plants bring color to the mix. Dried cranberries, holly berries, strawberries and blackberries are among the many fragrant berries to add to potpourri. Berries will take longer to dry than leaves and flowers. Turn them often to prevent spoilage and ensure complete drying.

Essential Oils

Essential oils reinforce an existing scent or add yet another dimension to the potpourri. Added with the same flowers, essential oils will intensify their fragrance. Use a drop or two of lavender essential oil in place of dried lavender flowers. Rejuvenate fading scents with a drop or two of essential oil, replacing a spent fragrance or adding a new one. Peppermint, rosemary, frankincense, clove, jasmine and sandalwood are among the many essential oils used in potpourri. One or two drops are sufficient, as essential oils are potent.

Fixatives

Add fixatives to your potpourri to absorb and retain the scents of your ingredients. Fixatives will help potpourri last longer. Powdered orrisroot, ground gum benzoin, fiberfix and cellulose are common fixatives in potpourri mixes. One tablespoon for every two cups of potpourri mix is sufficient. Mix the fixative well with all ingredients in a paper bag. Let the fragrances blend for a few weeks before using. Store unused potpourri in closed containers to retain its fragrance longer.

References

• Make Stuff: Make Your Own Potpourri/Sachets
• Gardens Ablaze: Making Fragrant Herbal & Floral Potpourri
• Save on Crafts: Making Potpourri

Resources

• Organic Facts: List of Natural Essential Oils