"The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose." ~George William Curtis

“The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart.”

*Roses from my garden

“You are responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose.”  Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.  ~Emma Goldman

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.  ~Beverly Nichols

“A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world.” ~Leo Buscaglia

"Perfumes are the feelings of flowers."

 ~Heinrich Heine, The Hartz Journey

"Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk

undisturbed." ~Walt Whitman

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

~Claude Monet

“Love is like the wild rose-briar; Friendship like the holly-tree. The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms, but which will bloom most constantly?” 
― Emily Brontë, The Complete Poems

"A profusion of pink roses bending ragged in the rain speaks to me of all gentleness and its enduring."  ~The Collected Later Poems of William Carlos Williams

'"People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us."

~Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

“But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.”~Anne Bronte

"And she was fair as is the rose in May." ~ Geoffrey Chaucer

“They are not long, the days of wine and roses. Out of a misty dream, our path emerges for a while, then closes, within a dream.” 
― Ernest Dowson, The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson

Preserve The Fragrance of Lavender and Roses

“It is at the edge of a petal that love waits.” ~William Carlos Williams

For gift giving, fund-raising, or just plain fun, consider making fragrant potpourri. Begin in the spring or summer  by drying rose petals, an essential ingredient. Other flowers such as bachelor buttons, asters, straw flowers and statice add color. Any blossoms that dry well can be used. Mints, lavender, and lemongrass are excellent herbs for fragrance. Save the peelings from citrus fruit. Additional scent comes from manufacturers who sell potpourri supplies.

Order ground orris root, lavender, and essential oils. Sachet bags can be made from circular scraps of breathable fabric all tied up with ribbons. Decorative jars also make attractive holders. Baskets filled with fragrant sachets are an appealing presentation if fund-raising is your goal. Here are some potpourri making directions from my experience and the book, Potpourri, by Ann Tucker Fettner.

“When the world wearies, and society ceases to satisfy,there is always the garden.”—MINNIE AUMONIER

After you’ve collected and dried an ample quantity of blossoms and herbal leaves, mix in your other ingredients. Use a large bowl, not plastic, but ceramic or pottery. To hold the scent, you will need a fixative, often calamus or orris root. Generally, you use a tablespoon of a fixative for every quart of dried material. Add any spices you’ve chosen, cinnamon bark broken fine, rubbed mace, ground cardamom seeds, by sprinkling them over the petals and fixatives. If you like, add the crushed citrus peel, maybe some crumbled vanilla bean, and mix well with your hands.

The ingredients must be absolutely dry or the blend will molder. To all of this, add your favorite essential oils, rose, lavender, geranium, or tincture of musk or amber. Experiment with different blends. Don’t combine all the oils in the same batch. The possibilities are endless.

When you’re satisfied that the mixture is well blended, let it age in a crock for several weeks. Don’t have a crock? Brown paper grocery bags will do. Store the mixture out of sunlight in an airy corner or attic. Stir occasionally, then package prettily and enjoy.

“Flowers are love’s truest language.”

—PARK BENJAMIN