Potpourri recipe with scented leaves
In my last two posts I have been drying leaves from my garden for use in potpourri and then adding essential oils to the potpourri for added fragrance. Here is the finished potpourri recipe.
![potpourri recipe scented leaves for drying](https://driedflowercraft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/scented-leaves-008-e1617804436739.jpg)
Choosing the leaves for this potpourri recipe
This dried leaf potpourri is not as pretty as a dried flower one but has a gorgeous fragrance. I used lemon balm, peppermint and scented leaf pelargonium. In aromatherapy terms, this combination of these dried leaves should pack quite a punch, as scented leaf pelargoniums are said to be uplifting, lemon balm gives an emotional boost, and peppermint is revitalising.
You will need
- 1 litre fresh herb leaves.
- A basket to dry them in (air circulates through the holes).
- A few drops of essential oil. I used melissa (lemon balm), rose geranium and peppermint.
- 1 tsp Orris root powder
- Tupperware container
Method
1. Put the basket in the airing cupboard (or somewhere warm and dry – a garage will do in summer months) and stir the leaves around after a few days to encourage them to dry evenly. The lemon balm and peppermint will probably be fully dry in about a week, but the pelargoniums may take a bit longer because of the moisture-retaining hairs on the leaves.
2. Break the dried leaves up a bit to release more fragrance as potpourri.
3. Take a teaspoon of orris root powder (this stops the essential oils evaporating) and drip the oil onto it. For 1 litre of dried leaves I added 3 drops rose geranium oil, 3 drops melissa (lemon balm) oil and 2 drops peppermint.
4. Sprinkle the orris root/oil mixture over the leaves.
![dried leaves in tupperware](https://driedflowercraft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/leaf-potpourri-making-007-e1617804706341.jpg)
5. Seal in tupperware, shake gently to disperse the ingredients and leave for as long as you can for the fragrance to mature (a minimum of 10 days, up to 6 weeks). Shake from time to time to mix.
6. Display!
![scented leaf potpourri](https://driedflowercraft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/scented-leaf-potpourri-e1617804759221.jpg)
Tips
- Haven’t got the time to dry the herbs? Dry in a fan oven at 30degC or the lowest setting for a few hours.
- Haven’t got time to wait for the potpourri to mature? Try a) using fragrance oils instead – in which case you can omit the orris root powder – just shake the oils with the dried leaves in the container and leave for a few hours to permeate before displaying. The resulting potpourri will have a good fragrance but less aromatherapy value. Or b) Omit sealing the dried leaves in tupperware with the orris root powder and just display the leaves in a bowl as soon as they’re dry, adding a drop or two of essential oil from time to time. This will use a lot more oil as it will evaporate quickly, but smell gorgeous.
- Haven’t got these herbs? Try rosemary, thyme, marjoram, citrus peel, clary sage, lavender leaves, verbena leaves, or artemisia, and matching oils.
-
For more general hints and tips, see my blog post about potpourri making.
[Avoid contact of essential oils & fragrance oils with polished, painted & synthetic surfaces, textiles and skin.]
Shopping links for this potpourri recipe
Orris root powder and Fragrance oils are both available to buy in my dried flowers shop