Charlotte, North Carolina USA

Instead of our usual buffet of fantastic foods, we will partake of a buffet of colorful and fragrant potpourri materials—dried herbs and flowers, fixatives laced with essential oils, tantalizing spices. But don’t worry—the sumptuous refreshments will be there as well!

First we will have a demonstration and program describing the basic composition of a traditional potpourri with lots of handouts including recipes using herbs and flowers we easily can grow in our area. Then each participant will be given a small plastic bag in which to mix her own combination from the abundant and varied supplies offered. You will choose from rose, mixed floral or citrus fragrance bases and take your personal potpourri home with you to stir daily until it has “married.”

We will explore different presentation and packaging ideas, so you can use your potpourri for Farmers Market contributions or for your own gift giving.

Here’s what you can do to prepare for the program. Certain important potpourri herbs such as Lemon Verbena, Mint, Scented Geranium Leaves, Sweet Woodruff, Marjoram and Oregano are either unavailable commercially or available only in a cut-leaf form. As we want the visual impact of the whole leaf and the variety these herbs will offer, please dry as much of these materials as you can before the program, using the guidelines from the last newsletter (or check out the Charlotte Herb Guild website article Preparing for Potpourri).

More color in your potpourri can be achieved by drying Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) and Hydrangeas (see article in this newsletter on drying Hydrangeas also available for viewing on this website at Drying Hydrangeas). You might have only enough of these extra materials for your own use—and that will be acceptable. However, we will welcome any of these materials you have to share.

Also, there will be an opportunity to purchase bulk materials at a reduced price if you are interested in exploring this old fragrance art form further. CT