Time to Fly! Just going to be New England -y here & blurt. But please read carefully. The retail shop of the website is going to close down next Wednesday 9.15.21. Sometime within the next few months, it will reopen briefly, with a leaner selection, and a few new creations. This will be the last and only time to shop the site for 2021. No Christmas hugger-mugging! If you want to be on the mailing list, do drop me a DM. The shop will again close after this late autumn update, and going forward in 2022, be open to the public a few times only, with pertinent, seasonal products. The rest of what I’m doing will be revealed later. I’m deliberately holding it close for now, and letting it form organically you could say. Tending the land and creating these products Biodynamically, with very little help, is more time and labor intensive than anyone could ever imagine. I have zip desire for Tender Flower to be an empire and balk at following the unending growth and colonization model even (once) small botanical businesses of integrity have succumbed to. What drives me is the meaningful , supportive relationship I build with certain customers, both pro & retail, and sharing the multitude of the plants’ gifts, so people feel the effervescent magic that lives through nature. And they do feel it, I have heard over and again. Thank you. The nature beings of the garden never tire of hearing it, either. And to everyone here in the circle of plant magic, human love and sincere life in and light of the Spirit, thank you most dearly. 💗💗💗 On to a different way and rhythm (not the algol one) of being here. Love, Donna #naturelove#adifferentway#biodynamicskin#skincareformulator#wholeplantskincare#artisandistiller#botanicalperfume#naturalperfumer#enfleuragist#biodynamicgrower#jevaisaupif#plantmagic#followyourheart

Aromatic Co-Distillation The precursor to distilling is a sincere heart immersion in learning the plants & learning the land, in addition to botanical safety/toxicity/application knowledge, of course. Is that schoolmarmish of me to say? Welllll, honestly I really care less about what people think of me than what they think about nature, about respect, patience, reverence and common sense. Having seen people rip up huge amounts of plants and then ask “ can I distill this?”.... someone about to harvest deadly water hemlock thinking it was Queen Anne’s Lace (daucus carota) .... and many other too sad things.. speaking up for sensibility and sensitivity towards the plants actually comes from a place of generosity & abundance, knowing we don’t have to rush or take everything we see, knowing that distillation is an enjoyable yet demanding art/science. Experimentation is fun! It’s ever better when your foundation with the materials is solid. Are you smelling this image of fragrant plants nestled in the bowl of copper alembic? There’s fuzzy rose geranium, fennel seedheads bathed in light, spicebush leaves (from a shrub that needs yearly coppicing) & few other secret ingredients. This will become a special product to be released later on into autumn. Thank you for reading my “ poem”. 💚 #aromaticlife#distillation#jevaisaupif#jemenfiche#botanicalperfumer#greenbeauty#naturelove#hydrosol#biodynamicgrower#ethicalharvest#creatingbeauty#olfactoryart#scentsy #plantmagic#artisandistiller#botanicalmagic

On the Way to Autumn... This image of plump & juicy scarlet rosehips and vivid fuschia rugosa roses says so much about the way nature segues into the next season, don’t you think? What signs of autumn (if you live in the N. hemisphere) are you seeing, hearing, smelling or sensing? A few observations here : some of the shrubs are turning; katydids and crickets are making their scintillating sounds night and day; the scents are tangier, more subtle but also the scents connote a atmospheric mood in nature (not personal emotions) of something akin to melancholy, yet it’s so much more graceful and refined than human melancholy. #turnofseasons#autumnmood #autumn#biodynamic #greenbeauty#wholeplantskincare#botanicalperfumer#scent#jevaisaupif#naturelove#senses#observingnature #biodynamicgrower#distiller

A bit of handmade apricot concentrate for perfumery. While others experimenting with these sorts of extractions are calling them “absolutes”, I’m still searching for a more resonant term. Absolutes, in the perfume industry, are created in several steps, first with a chemical solvent such as hexane or tuloene, producing a concrète , which can be used themselves, or further processed with ethanol (alcohol) and cold filtering to arrive at the absolute substance. The residues of floral absolutes also render fragrant waxes. Absolutes are meant to be substantially diluted: this is when they “ bloom” and smell most like the plant of their origin. The non organic chemical extracted absolutes though, are ones I’d never use in facial care or, in edibles as is becoming a practice out there. Sometimes the handmade extractions I make using organic high proof alcohol and a special evaporation process smell more true to the plant substance. In contrast, the commercial absolutes always have an off scent to my nose, less evident upon dilution but very subtly present nonetheless. Being able to create arcane notes for the perfume organ, using plants straight from my land, or food materials (the apricots) is something I love doing. Leaning into the scentscape around me to make some of my own materials keeps things real. #scentscape#jevaisaupif#handmadeperfume#artisanperfumer#olfactoryarts#aromaticlife#greenbeauty#naturalperfume#botanicalperfume#plantmagic#showmeyourplants

Labor intensive and slow, handmade extractions. Sometimes I offer you glimpses of the gardens here, my dynamic university/ laboratory/ life arts world, so you can have a sense of TF’s context, and realize, this is a genuine, artisanal endeavor of growing plants, yes, but also, living in intimacy with nature. The processing of beautiful raw materials into skincare, herbal and perfumery extracts is whole ‘nother layer in this artisanship. Why would I, living the way I do, settle for only commercial extracts in my products? Just as a painter following old world methods may grind and mix raw pigments for paints, the plants pass through my hands to become palette ingredients for skin & soul. It’s so satisfying, especially when I recall concocting plant muddles.. a bit dubious, but fun!.. as a child. Did you play with plants that way, too? I would love to hear about your then or now interest in plant extraction. 🌿💚🌿 #biodynamicskincare#botanicalperfume#jevaisaupif#plantextraction#plantpower#wholeplantskincare#indieperfumer#farmtoface#perfumeoftheland#greenbeauty#myway#

Some of the harvests of plants grown here come in huge singular or several times cuttings & pluckings. Others come in steady small bits nearly every day. One idea unites these two different approaches: pick the plants ( or plant parts) at their very best, when they open freshly or the leaves are bright, unblemished and full of aromatic compounds. The only exception to my practices is when I do a multi plant distillation for aromatic effect, where it works well and makes something of plants I want to cut back but not compost. I nearly weep to see to images here of makers using withered, blemished leaves for medicine; taking without having a plan, just because a bounty was stumbled upon; or seizing whole plants from the earth just for one part of it. There are better ways , especially if you “ listen” to the plants, to Nature. Does it matter to you, I am curious, whether plants were grown & harvested with an eye to the details of care for the medicines and their origins? Or what the true story is behind the botanical products you buy? I mentioned a book back in April, #thebusinessofbotanicals. Have you read it yet? #biodynamic #wholeplantskincare#farmtoface#plantsourcing#vibrantplants#biodynamicskincare#ethicalbusiness#listentotheearth#naturelove#plantmedicine#heartandhand