Lush, poufy Sir Winston Churchill (top) was added to the fragrant narcissi population here last autumn. I watched in wonder when the impossibly large flower buds appeared, looking like plants from science fiction ! The top note is soaring, radiant. My friend @gaua_project described it as orange blossom, in which I find also something terpenic and slightly peppery, like elemi. Live flowers and landscapes for me are the prima materia of perfumery. #smellthis#narcissi#botanicalperfume#indieperfumer#flowerlove#fragrantpath#aromaticlife#scentsy#olfaction#naturalperfumery#enfleurage#slowscent#perfumegarden#perfumery#jevaisaupif#scentbeauty

Warmth has arrived.. the air is full of bees droning and gorgeous scents. Being planting time, days are long, dirty, sometimes achey. I can’t speak proper English right now, just plant, bird and bee. #pottingshed#biodynamicfarm#smallfarm#herbfarm#naturelove#plantlove#plantmagic#biodynamicskincare#botanicalperfume#botanicalmagic#greenbeauty#flowerwhisperer #earthsteward

Yesterday was not…quite… the happy vernal celebration on the farm. Plans were to pot up seedlings and fulfill other pleasant chores, but we had high winds, a long electric outage and numerous fires, with smoke-thickened air throughout the county. A loud crash in the afternoon startled my tending the woodstove. The beloved (and enormous) 50 + year old crabapple tree came down, smashing a storm window at the finale.She was in full, full bud, just about to bloom. Having spent nearly half the tree’s life on this land, there are many vivid memories of seeing massive clouds of pink through every front window; the hum of thousands of bees feasting on her blooms; lying down below her canopy to join the dream of rosey scent and thrumming wings; watching the petals rain down in a thick pink carpet. Solemnly, I told the bees this morning. There is a younger crabapple, and apple trees, too: not all is lost. The buds will be distilled, a new tree will be ordered and planted, but still, the pangs of a dear friend’s departure lingers. (video has sounds of Spring) #vernalequinox#naturelove#plantlove#biodynamicfarm#biodynamicskincare#crabapple#springflowers#treefriends#artisanskincare#wholeplantskincare

Tender Spring arrives in the potting shed garden, fragrant with hyacinth perfume. Many more of the fluffy headed bulbs, blooming just outside the frame! Each year I add dozens, not just for enfleurage and beauty, but also for the revered honeybees. It has amazed me to watch over decades, the plant attractions of bees and other pollinating insects. Not the usual hash repeated from book to book to media. What underlies my work whether farming Biodynamically; creating skincare, perfume; perceiving scent,color, form; yearly cycle; the spiritual, the human .. is deep, penetrating observation. Which begins with a silence, shaped like an open question, in a warm heart. # goetheanscience#biodynamic #biodynamicfarm#wholeplantskincare#biodynamicskincare#botanicalperfume#indieperfumer#olfactoryart#plantartist#slowbeauty#naturelove#springflowers#spring#observe#goetheanscience

Fragrant signs of Spring….hyacinths, viola odorata, daphne odora, all flowers used in my enfleurages. Hyacinth scent profiles vary, along with their coloration, with notes such as clove, galbanum, rose water, the hexanal of cut grass, bananas just beginning to ripen, even jasmine. Fully opened blooms turn to smells as found in common with gingko, chestnut, and the Elegant Stinkhorn mushrooms. One need say no more! Paying deep attention to stages of flowering is equally important as discerning facets of scent, if you want to work with them. “A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning in Eden garden.— Have, get, before it cloy” noted Gerard Manley Hopkins quite rightly in his beloved poem, “Spring”. This moment in Spring when the forms, scents, colors and sounds are so fresh and pure is a kind of grace . And then, there’s a swift change, at some point in the season, when decay forces and a kind of coarseness set in. Do you notice this, too? # spring#enfleurage#cycleoftheyear#fragrantpath#aromas#botanicalperfume#indieperfumer#naturalperfume#slowscent#greenbeauty#olfaction#olfactoryartist#plantmagic#perfumery#smellthis#scents

Scent kit (image 1) for upcoming Amber Accords class; and models for this Sunday’s Art of Enfleurage class. It is mid February and I saw the first daffodil blooms today, also lots of crocuses. There’s a soft veil of muted green below, across the grassy fields and lawns, and in the budding trees, above. Snowdrops and hellebores have been in full bloom for weeks. One month ahead of the earliest appearances I’ve noted here in 27 years! #perfumeclass#botanicalperfumery#olfactoryarts#olfactoryartist#scentartist#naturalperfumer#indieperfumer#enfleurage#makingperfume#perfumery#perfumer#slowscent#naturewonder#springflowers#naturelove#plantmagic#scentsylife

Because roses are my benediction, the new still has been named Bénédicte and she will most often be filled with roses. Thank you everyone, for helping me name this one! Hope you’ll read my Stories today, on a day when the commercial world fetishizes and sentimentalizes something too powerful for most words. #hydrosols#artisandistiller#botanicalperfumer#indieperfumer#perfumery#biodynamicfarm#roses#loveday#roselove#plantmagic#biodynamicskincare

The update, one of the few times each year when you can acquire Tender Flower products, skincare and perfumes, is now live to the general public through the 12th. Then it’s on to this month’s perfumery classes, and sowing plant seeds for this year’s skincare and aromatic extractions. Two of new perfumes are pictured here. Nuage Violet Tendre, is a violet-tinged cloud melding orris’s powdery nature with the warmth of a vanilla accord & shimmering ambergris. It is subtle, yet with surprising sillage and projection.. an enhancement of the wearer’s innate mystery. Jasmine Ritual is the indolic flower played as a luminous tea infused with fruits, mostly dark: cassis, figs, prunes & apricots. The composition is sumptuous, but light filled, its starting point inspired by one of my old favorite teas from Marriage Fréres in Paris. #scentmedicine#naturalperfume#artisanperfume#botanicalperfumer#smellthis#handmadeperfume#fragrantpath#aromaticlife#scentsy#jevaisaupif#orris#jasmine#slowscent#perfumery#olfactoryartist#olfaction#plantmagic#beautifulscents

Delicate enfleurage perfumes being packaged, including Daphne; Tazetta, Jasmine Veil, Gardenia and a few more. If you are longing for Spring flowers, here they are, in small but potent jars full. Enfleurage captures the headspace of a fragrant flowers as no other method can, including uncannily life like projection. There are just a couple of spaces open for the Art of Enfleurage class on 2.18. Registration closes this Sunday. These perfumes, above, somewhere in between creamy and balmy, are delicate compositions beginning with the enfleurage corps. Then other aromatics and extractions are added to tease out and amplify certain nuances of that flower. Some additional materials add depth and tenacity, for enfleurage on its own is fleeting. Why is that? Find out in class! #enfleurage#enfleurageperfume#fragrantextraction#extractingscent#jevaisaupif#botanicalperfumer#botanicalperfume#indieperfumer#fragrantpath#aromaticlife#subtlearomatherapy#slowscent#greenbeauty#smellthis#scentedlife#flowerlove#plantmagic#perfumeclass#makingperfume