Taking a deep flower breath here…. while we have been inundated with rain for nearly two weeks, and the gardens are a wreck, it’s a small hardship in light of the suffering from elementals/Elements & humans out of balance, and the consequences we see elsewhere. Rudolf Steiner once said it would increasingly become impossible to be happy when others around you were not. I think many of us are feeling the weight and truth of this. ( Photo of chrysanthemums from a few years ago. The autumn garden is “ a wash”, literally)

One little bit of news: the return of incense making k-lasses, after years of not being able to fit them into my farm & products schedule. Many exciting changes occurring in Tender Flower world! The way I approach incense making is detailed, and thorough, with many unique tips; inclusive of materials you can grow; an eye towards soul/environment medicine effects; and some attention towards the elemental’s activities involved. Two different sessions are up, now and I am looking forward to sharing this art with you in a reverent way. One centers on working with the fluid & dry aromatic materials, using special techniques, to impart beautiful, layered scent to different forms of incense. This is more advanced work. The other k-lass is about making incense cones by hand. Each comes with a scent kit! #handmadeincense#incensemaking#aromatics#fragrantsmoke#incensum#jevaisaupif#botanicalperfume#slowscent#fragrantpath#olfactoryarts#scentartist

Guises of a dahlia… After avoiding dahlias for years (too much extra work!), I succumbed. This waterlily type bloom is so expressive in the garden and on the table. Dahlias have a big secret, too.. or maybe just this one..because I kept smelling a sweet but strange floral scent, and knew it wasn’t the osmanthus or jasmine. Deciding to investigate, realized as the dahlia decayed in a flower bowl, it was giving off a perfume of water lilies (with a sweet urinous facet). !!!🫢 #smellthis#jevaisaupif#indieperfumer#fragrantlife#unexpected#flowerlove#dahlias#botanicalperfume#flowerface#floralbeauty#lifeofaflower#olfaction#aromas

On the essential…. While I haven’t meant to be a ghost here, there’s simply too much in life needing my attention elsewhere. Drought and intense heat this summer, for one, set me back on farm work. Other things, too, have accumulated to a point where minimizing the non-essential is the only way forward atm. And, except for a handful of people on IG, well, you are the only reason I am still here, and I love and appreciate you so much! If you’re new to this page, or even not, there’s so much in all past posts on my profile, to see what TF is about. There’s a newsletter too, which takes precedence in content to what’s shared here. One thing that really doesn’t work for me is being less than truthful about where I find myself at any moment. Nothing is “wrong”, I simply have tremendous tasks ahead of me! Someday, I hope, that people will find the surfaces erected to present “ images” rather than reality, are in fact, not worthy of us as human beings. #biodynamicfarm#theessential#naturelove#plantartistry#biodynamicskincare#botanicalperfume

Carnation is often considered a fuddy-duddy scent, but I love its clove scented frills and fresh green depths. Fleurs Épicées pinions carnation and rose in a spicy amber atmosphere…dark, seemingly bottomless, enduring and intimate. This is one of three perfumes offered in the update, live through this week. Lately I’ve been thinking about the perfumes I create in terms of darkness and light. While Fleurs Épicées rests mainly in warm, dark depths, like being enveloped in love, A Meadow shimmers in fields of light, ethereal, held to earth by the curious punctuation of immortelle amidst the chamomile, roses, and grasses. Manon des Sources is right in the middle.. the blazing sun of Provencal herbes sauvage, the mushroom laden crevices of scrub forest; long shadows and cool minerals of spring-fed cavern pools; the fresh, but quickly hot respite of petrichor in drought. Perfume creating is somewhere between painting, music and poetry. If it doesn’t register as such, it’s merely a scent, not a perfume. #jevaisaupif#olfactoryart#plantartist#botanicalperfumery #slowscent#indieperfumer#artisanperfume#fragrantpath#aromatics#greenbeauty#smellthis#tenderflowerperfume#naturalperfume

How can flowers be so silent and say so much? #flowerlove#tenderthings#tenderlife #quietbeauty#botanicalperfume#indieperfumer#olfactoryart#fragrantpath#quietude#flowerlanguage#scent

Why is it the longer you take a break from posting, the harder it is to return? In truth, a rhetorical question, because once detached, you quickly realize the compromise in personal freedom and time to do as the metrics “want”, by regularly appearing. Quite the dilemma for an online based tiny business ! Reappearing here is a very lovely, unusual scent introduced last summer, A Meadow. It will be available with a few other things soon, but you need to be on the newsletter list to find out when. A Meadow summons the essence of a sunlit field of wildflowers, roses, chamomile, a touch of honeyed fruit, punctuated with Mediterranean herbs. #botanicalperfume#indieperfumer#wildflowerfragrance#lesprés#jevaisaupif#greenbeauty #slowsent#fragrantpath#aromaticlife#tenderflowerperfume

Are you ever interested in learning more about the elemental beings in nature, those beings depicted artistically in fairy tales and folklore? It might surprise you to know they aren’t “little people” dressed in quaint clothing, and that you don’t even have to be clairvoyant to perceive their presence, or, to engage with them. There are many difficult happenings in our time. I thought it was time to offer some of the fruits of over 30 years of work with the elementals, in a class inspired by what the elementals themselves have been communicating to me the last few years. It’s a tender, loving class, though not sentimental, nor “woo”. It starts with where you/we are and this kingdom which is the bridge into the spiritual worlds, and in healthy inner development, shouldn’t be bypassed. There will be participatory work, context, pertinent anecdotes, and insightful suggestions from my direct experience plus metabolized sharings from Dr. Rudolf Steiner’s work. If you are concerned with the devastation in the world, amongst humans, in nature, and feel helpless, this is one key place to begin making a tangible difference . See link in Stories, or go to classes on website. Love, Donna #elementals#naturelove#biodynamics#biodynamicfarm#realfairytale#naturespirits#fairies#elves

Unusual materials extractions feature in every Tender Flower scent & skin product. For me it’s one of the most absorbing aspects of the work. It’s the only way to get an extraction of wool, soil, unusual fruits, and other plants/parts, and, at a concentration and viscosity determined by the needs of my formulas. Here you see substances in lab dishes used for evaporation, a simple method, but not the best for every material. Sometimes a hand held vacuum pump or even more advanced equipment is needed (which I have), depending on innate water content of materials and desired outcome. I love following the changes in color, density, aroma and even the patterns formed during evaporation. My former Mr., not current one, used to call me a “ mad scientist” long before I ever began Tender Flower. He was right! 😉 #biodynamicskincare#aromatics#botanicalperfumer#artisanskincare#indieperfumer#jevaisaupif #slowbeauty#smellthis#plantartist#madscientist .