n they are most pungent and contain the greatest amount of natural essential oils.

To add a tang, you can also add the cut up dried peel of oranges, lemons and limes. If you have some eucalyptus that is past its prime, wash off the dust, pull off leaves, and add these leaves to your potpourr

Fragranced gifts are always popular and, with the wide availability of essential oils (natural oils obtained from plants), easy to make. Here are a few ideas for creative and individualized gifts that I have sourced from the Internet and other sources.

Pot of homemade potpourri

A pot of homemade potpourri makes an individual aromatic gift. Some of the recipes for homemade potpourri can be quite complex – the simplest I have come across is that by Jane Lake, and is given below, with a few amendments from me:

You will need a large clean storage jar with a close fitting lid, scissors/secateurs to cut an assortment of coloured and fragrant flowers or leaves as they appear in your garden, and a sunny window sill.

Suitable flowers include daffodils, lily of the valley, lavender, violets, bleeding hearts, roses, geranium, honey suckle, sweet william, pansies, viola, veronica, phlox and clover. Simply cut a few blossoms off each flower when they arrive in the garden and add to the jar. The leaves of herbs, such as bay, rosemary, lemon balm and citronella can also be added – harvest these just before the plants come into full bloom as this is when they are most pungent and contain the greatest amount of natural essential oils.

To add a tang, you can also add the cut up dried peel of oranges, lemons and limes. If you have some eucalyptus that is past its prime, wash off the dust, pull off leaves, and add these leaves to your potpourri

A pot of homemade potpourri makes an individual aromatic gift. Some of the recipes for homemade potpourri can be quite complex – the simplest I have come across is that by Jane Lake, and is given below, with a few amendments from me:

You will need a large clean storage jar with a close fitting lid, scissors/secateurs to cut an assortment of coloured and fragrant flowers or leaves as they appear in your garden, and a sunny window sill.

Suitable flowers include daffodils, lily of the valley, lavender, violets, bleeding hearts, roses, geranium, honey suckle, sweet william, pansies, viola, veronica, phlox and clover. Simply cut a few blossoms off each flower when they arrive in the garden and add to the jar. The leaves of herbs, such as bay, rosemary, lemon balm and citronella can also be added – harvest these just before the plants come into full bloom as this is when they are most pungent and contain the greatest amount of natural essential oils.

To add a tang, you can also add the cut up dried peel of oranges, lemons and limes. If you have some eucalyptus that is past its prime, wash off the dust, pull off leaves, and add these leaves to your potpourr

e fitting lid, scissors/secateurs to cut an assortment of coloured and fragrant flowers or leaves as they appear in your garden, and a sunny window sill.

Suitable flowers include daffodils, lily of the valley, lavender, violets, bleeding hearts, roses, geranium, honey suckle, sweet william, pansies, viola, veronica, phlox and clover. Simply cut a few blossoms off each flower when they arrive in the garden and add to the jar. The leaves of herbs, such as bay, rosemary, lemon balm and citronella can also be added – harvest these just before the plants come into full bloom as this is when they are most pungent and contain the greatest amount of natural essential oils.

To add a tang, you can also add the cut up dried peel of oranges, lemons and limes. If you have some eucalyptus that is past its prime, wash off the dust, pull off leaves, and add these leaves to your potpourr

ansies, viola, veronica, phlox and clover. Simply cut a few blossoms off each flower when they arrive in the garden and add to the jar. The leaves of herbs, such as bay, rosemary, lemon balm and citronella can also be added – harvest these just before the plants come into full bloom as this is when they are most pungent and contain the greatest amount of natural essential oils.

To add a tang, you can also add the cut up dried peel of oranges, lemons and limes. If you have some eucalyptus that is past its prime, wash off the dust, pull off leaves, and add these leaves to your potpourr

n they are most pungent and contain the greatest amount of natural essential oils.

To add a tang, you can also add the cut up dried peel of oranges, lemons and limes. If you have some eucalyptus that is past its prime, wash off the dust, pull off leaves, and add these leaves to your potpourri flower jar as well.

The drying process is simple... you just let the blossoms dry out in the jar with the aid of the sun shining through your window. Before you add more blossoms, stir the lower layers of potpourri with a kitchen fork or spoon, and add the new blossoms on top. Don't pack the blossoms and leaves down too tightly – you want plenty of air space to encourage quick and complete drying. You can mix and match your flowers – you might like to have one jar predominantly of roses, or another packed with mostly lavender. You could also do one just with bay leaves – for cooking purposes.

The fun is in experimenting.

When the natural fragrances of the flowers and leaves begin to fade, the potpourri can be refreshed easily by simply adding a few drops of essential oils. You could also supply a small bottle of an essential oil as part of your gift.

If you are unable to make your own potpourri, why not buy an unfragranced variety, put it in an attractive jar and add a few drops of essential oil? such as Lavender oil.

Alternatively, you could make potpourri sachets (see below)

Potpourri sachets

Fragranced potpou