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Valentine's Day is a
perfect excuse to fill your home with all the wonderful scents from
herbs. The Victorians knew very well how to
use plants to send a romantic message. Let's take some ideas
from the Victorian
Era to make a special Valentine's Day (and chase away the winter
doldrums) in our own home.
To set the mood, scent the house with a special potpourri blend.
The Victorians kept a special covered jar or crock in the foyer to
be opened when callers came. This was filled with a mixture of fresh
rose petals layered with cinnamon, cloves and sea salt - called a
rose jar. This moist potpourri preceded our dry type of potpourri.
The word potpourri when translated means "rotted pot", and you can
guess that the fresh petals did look rather rotten, but the aroma
was wonderful. Now, we make our potpourri with
dried flowers, which looks better. To make a rose jar, mix 2 cups of
dried rose petals with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 Tablespoon each,
whole cloves and whole allspice. A fixative is a material that holds
the scent of the fragrance oil used to make potpourri, thus your
mixture holds it's scent longer. You can use orris root or cellulose
from a craft store, you only need a tablespoon, and then place 6 or
8 drops of rose fragrance oil on the fixative. If you don't have any
fixative, place the fragrance oil directly on the whole spices.
Place all in a covered candy dish or mason jar. Allow the
scent to blend for 2 weeks. You can then open your rose jar when
visitors enter your parlor!
The Victorians assigned meanings to all the plants. Proper ladies
taught their daughters these meanings and how to send messages by
flower, called Floriography. A small nosegay called a tussie mussie
was made to be carried or attached to the dress bodice. Ornamental
silver holders also held these bouquets, they are becoming popular
once again. Brides that have this type of bouquet will have the
tussie mussie holder as an heirloom from their wedding day. Examples
of flowers and their meanings used to create a tussie mussie are:
red roses to symbolize love, pink roses for friendship, lavender for
luck, statice means forever yours, and baby's breath for gentleness.
If you would like to learn more
about the language of flowers, I recommend the book called "Flora's
Dictionary" by Kathleen Gips. You can order one at (800) 836-9120.
The cost is $16.95 plus $2.00 shipping. Gardeners may wish to
create an entire bed in the shape of a tussie mussie filled with
fragrant Victorian herbs. Now is the time to plan a new garden!
Don't forget to enclose a rosemary sprig in your Valentine cards to
far-away friends. Rosemary is a symbol of remembrance.
For a special Valentine's day dinner, stuff the cavity of a chicken
or Cornish hens with a few sprigs of rosemary and some quartered
oranges and roast as usual, then, the last 20 minutes of roasting
time, use a rosemary sprig to brush some melted orange marmalade
over the bird(s) to make a nice glaze.
Come celebrate with us at Salt Box Gallery. We are having an Herbal
Victorian Rose Valentine class on Sat. Feb. 8th from 10 am to noon.
We will sip herbal tea and enjoy scones and Rose Geranium Jelly as
we enjoy a fragrant rose workshop. We will begin by making a
glycerin and rosewater facial masque to take home, a valentine card
embellished with dried rosebuds suitable for framing, and a
rosebud necklace to wear for a romantic touch. Other rose recipes
are included. You must pre-register. Call (330)
534-0344. Class fee is $20.00
Keep warm and have a fragrant,
Victorian
Valentines day.
Hope to see you at Salt Box
Gallery!
Herbally yours,
Marian
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