Homemaking

Homemade Potpourri
Want Winter Freshness? Homemade Potpourri Refreshes Your Home
by Esmaa Self, courtesy of TrueWoman

This is the time flower growers everywhere start gathering and drying precious spent blossoms, which will eventually make their way into fragrant homemade potpourri. You too, can get a head start on winter freshness by collecting and drying your own ingredients. If you don't have a green thumb resulting in a yard and garden filled with fragrant flowers, you may choose to purchase the raw materials or, better yet, offer to deadhead your neighbor's flowers. (Deadheading is the process of removing fading flowers, and is a beneficial action for the plant.)

While I have given a short list of items for potpourri, these are not the only plants usable for this purpose. By no means! These simply happen to be what I gather from my own yard. You'll need to investigate local offerings!

If you are uncertain the flowers available to you are suitable for this project, test them! Start by picking one or two flowers from what is available and dry these. Test to see how much fragrance and color they retain dry. Choose the leaves, petals and flower heads offering the most pleasing aroma and colors.

Now that you've identified your flower supply, start gathering! Every couple of days during hot weather and less frequently as the temperatures cool pick off the flower heads and collect them in your basket. When you have enough, spread the flowers, leaves and petals out in a single layer on the window screen.

Place the window screen in a sunny, calm location far from sprinklers, pets and children. Mine sits on top of the air conditioner on the south side of my house.

Remove pieces from the screen as they dry and place them in the brown paper bag. Fold the bag to keep the aroma in and bugs out. Keep the bag in a dark, dry location.

When you have a suitable variety of dried pieces, add the cinnamon (broken into smaller pieces), and cloves. Mix.

Fill bowls and baskets with your fresh scented potpourri and display them throughout the house.

SUGGESTED MATERIALS
Old window screen, 3X3 or larger
Rose petals
Carnation flower heads
Mint leaves
Fennel (often called dill, grows wild seemingly everywhere)
Lavender flowers
Whole cloves
Cinnamon sticks (generally less expensive at Mexican Specialty stores)
A good sized basket
Brown paper bag

Hint: Dried fennel and mint release more aroma crushed. Crush them in your hands to release their inviting scent.

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