Please help me make my potpourri

[Rococo]

I'm planning to make a potpourri as a gift. But I would like to use at least 18 different flowers for my project and it would be awesome if each flower has some kind of meaning behind it (e.g: love, beauty, luck etc.).

Do you think this project is possible? What would be the possible flowers I could use so that my potpourri jar is colorful and presentable and not a jar filled with random flowers?

Thanks a lot

[beadsbydesign]

great list of victorian flower and herb meanings http://www.victorianbazaar.com/meanings.html
At this time of the year, you aren't going to be able to dry or source all the flowers though.
for my Christmas pot pourri I use pine cones, acorns, sycamore keys, bark, cinamon sticks, dried ivy leaves, beech nut cases, dried roses, dried lavender.dried orange slices, hawthorn and rosehiip berrys. I spray some of it Gold and add the fragrance to the none sprayed items.

[AnnieAnna]

The lavender in my garden finished really early this year but I was at a museum where they were still in full bloom so you can harvest that. I've got English marigolds still out. I dry them and they keep their colour. The fluffy clematis heads are about (ready dried). Seedheads are appearing galore. Love in the mist, honesty, rose hips...
I too have a book on the Victorian meaning of flowers and it bears no resemblance to what I find on the web :confused:

But have fun raiding your friends gardens and the countryside and hedgerows.

[Rococo]

oh silly me, I forgot that the season will affect the flowers that I'll be able to use.

But I hope the local flower shop will have the flowers that I need...

However, my real concern is, I have little to nothing experience when it comes in making a potpourri (this would be my 1st time), so I'm not familiar with the color schemes (I want it to look as good as possible in a jar, for display purposes) and I heard that some flower petals change in color when dried.

Or I shouldn't be conscious with it and just have fun with it. I just take a bunch of flowers, dry them and proceed to make my potpourri (by reading some guide online) and just place it in a jar. Is it ok?

[AnnieAnna]

I think maybe you should have planned this a year ago and bought the seeds and grown what you wanted :o but failing that there are friends' gardens and dried flower sellers out there :). I found florists a bit of a let down on the dried flower front but craft fairs come up trumps especially when I'm parked next to a dried flower arranger :D.

To dry your own and avoid disapointments don't reinvent the wheel. Try the following to know how to dry what. Plants are sensitive little things and have their pecadilos.
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/landscap/h1037w.htm
http://d21c.com/Sherry727/seasonal/pgs/preservingflowers.html
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1115/

and there is tons more on the web.

[Rococo]

wow...thanks a lot, I found your links very helpful...

ok, here's what I'm going to do, I'll get 18 different flowers having the cutest meanings behind them, dry them, place it in a jar, add the other necessary ingredients, give it a good shake (just kidding), and tie the jar with a ribbon of her favorite color...

I hope she likes it...thanks for the help everyone, I really appreciated it

[AnnieAnna]

You have to do a pretty label explaining everything. That's called added value :p.
A mini scroll tied with ribbon?

[Rococo]

I was really planning to give a card with that...but your idea of a scroll tied with the ribbon is way better

[cosmic grammie]

oooo, buy a sheet of handmade paper somewhere with feathered edges, but printer proof, of course....well, you could feather the edges yourself....sorry, I have been watching another member's live chicken cam so I am feather-brained at the moment.... =D

[Rococo]

I got another problem, I don't know what kind of essential oil I should use. I found someone who suggested either rose or lavender essential oils, but which of the two is better?

and should I really use orris roots for my potpourri?

[beadsbydesign]

If you are making a flora pot pourri then they will be fine
If you are wanting a christmas scent then instead or rose or lavender you should look at spice oils, cimannom, cloves, frankinscence, myhrr, orange, ginger. They are warming smells that evoke winter cosiness.
Oris root is used to dry things and preserve them. I use it to help dry out the berries.

[amphitrite]

One more thought for you - if you're buying genuine essential oils rather than perfumes rose oil will be up to 20 times more expensive, unless you go for a version diluted in oil (5% is common) which will only be about twice as expensive. Having said that you only need a few drops!

[cosmic grammie]

Orris root can cause allergic reactions. Try something called Fiber Fix that is pure cellulose crumbles. They look very nice mixed in with your other botanicals. Cedar curls, too. NOT shavings, but curls. Or if you get little pine coney things, you can sprinkle the EO over them, too. Just remember, if you get TOO MUCH oil in there, it can come off on your flowers and possibly change their color.


In my humnble opinion, lavender can smell slightly medicinal....there's one from Hungary (I think) that has less camphor. I love Egyptian Geranium for a rosey smelling EO but recently the price has more than doubled!!

If you are heartset on EO rather than FO, I would go with perhaps an EO blend rather than one straight scent. There are some very nice blends out there! I can highly recommend Bramble Berry, which is over here. In all the years I have ordered things from them, I have never been anything but thrilled - with product and service. But it would cost more in postage and take longer....for you over there.

[Meadowsweet]

Depending on whether the pot pourri is for personal use/gift or to sell. Essential oils. Rose Absolute is very very expensive, though smells lovely, unless you go for a synthetic one which doesn't quite have the same essence as the real thing (IMHO). I would suggest that for personal use/gifts, treat yourself with Rose Absolute, but for selling protect your profit I suggest Lavender, which is cheaper and has a lovely smell.

Not a lot of people would value how expensive Rose Absolute is so you may not make much if any profit from Rose Pot Pourri if you were to use it for a sellable pot pourri. I personally can't use synthetic oils as they tend to give me a headache (but then so does lavender).

Whatever the decision, I look forward to a pic of the results. :)