Learn how to make potpourri at home using dried flowers and herbs right from your own garden. Preserving flowers by drying them is a great way to create a keepsake or make a unique gift for others. I’ll be sharing how to make potpourri with dried flowers and a few herbs and spices to provide a beautiful natural fragrance to the home, without all the added chemicals.
One of my greatest joys is my garden. I love to spend hours in it each day when I’m visiting back home in Sydney, wandering through our isles of plants and watering the enormous variety of flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables we have growing there each year.
As I haven’t established a garden back home where I live up on the coast (yet), I visit the local farmers market each week and collect bunches of freshly cut flowers they have available there to make bouquets with to bring a little extra colour into the home. I love having their beautiful fragrance, rainbow of colour, and that little touch of nature close by inside my home.
However, inevitably, after about two weeks they start to wilt and die which pains me every time. I wanted a way to preserve these beautiful flowers for use in my photography and to have around the home for their incredible scent, and that’s when I learnt how to make homemade potpourri!
What is Potpourri?
Potpourri is a mixture of dried petals and spices that have been placed in a bowl or sachet to scent a room or a drawer. It originated in France, and translates to “putrid pot” because it was placed in a small pot and set down in a room to help cover up the foul smell of chamber pots.
Nowadays, potpourri is a mixture of dried flowers, herbs, fruits, pods, spices, and essential oils, and can be displayed in bowls or sachets to add colour and a beautiful natural fragrance to the inside of homes.
The fragrance of potpourri can last a few months to a few years, but to extend the life of the scent for as long as possible, it’s best to keep it in protective, covered glass containers away from direct sunlight.
Learning how to make potpourri at home is extremely simple. By drying any dying flower blooms, herbs, fruits, and pods, you can create fragrant and beautiful potpourri that’s unique to you.
How to Make Potpourri
Before you begin, check out my post on how to dry flowers. It shares a simple method for drying bouquets of fresh flowers at home, and mostly involves allowing nature to work its magic.
The best flowers for making potpourri with are those that retain their colour and shape best when dried, such as rose buds. It’s better not to use too many fragrant flowers, as the scents can clash.
Some great plant material options for making potpourri include:
- Bachelor’s button
- Calendula
- Chamomile
- Gomphrena
- Larkspur
- Pansy
- Mint
- Geranium
- Hydrangeas
- Jasmine
- Lavender
- Rose (especially in bud-form)
- Dianthus
- Chrysanthemum
- Hibiscus
- Sage
- Violets
- Seed pods
- Small pine cones
- Whole nutmeg berries
- Whole cloves
- Dried fruits or apple, orange, lemon, or any citrus rinds
- Whole star anise
- Cinnamon sticks
- Vanilla beans
- Sandalwood chips
- Eucalyptus leaves
- Tonka beans
- Bay leaf
- Thyme
- Lemon balm
You can include other herbs, spices, fruits, seeds, and flowers of your choice that aren’t listed above for extra fragrance and texture.
When it comes to essential oils, these are optional but they can enhance the fragrance of your homemade potpourri. Some great choices include rose, lavender, citrus, cinnamon, lemon, honeysuckle, bayberry, bergamot, geranium, sweet orange, wisteria, vetiver, etc.
How to Restore Scent to Potpourri
Homemade potpourri usually keeps its fragrance for around two months or so. After that, you’ll likely notice that the scent fades and you can’t smell it as much.
To restore the scent, simply add more essential oils to the mixture. Also, avoid using metal bowls, containers, or utensils when making potpourri, as these can react with the oils and ingredients in the potpourri mixture and may change the scent. Instead of metal, opt for glass, ceramic, or wood.
To enjoy your homemade potpourri in other various ways, add it to sachet bags and tuck it into drawers, bags, closets, storage cabinets, pillowcases, or anywhere else you want to enjoy the beautiful scent of these flowers and herbs.
Before we get started in learning how to make homemade potpourri, if you like what you’re seeing, subscribe to my email newsletter at the bottom of the page to keep up to date on the latest recipes, DIYs, gardening and health tips I share!
Homemade Potpourri
Here is how to turn your gathered materials into colourful, scented, beautiful potpourri.
Materials:
- Baskets, jars, or bowls for display
- Sachets or handkerchiefs
- Dried flowers and gathered plant material
- Essential oils of choice (optional)
- Orris root powder
To make:
- Start by choosing the flowers, herbs, spices, and any other plant material you want to include in your potpourri mixture.
- Next, dry your flowers and herbs using your favourite drying method. I personally prefer to use the air drying method when drying flowers that I want to use in potpourri. Once they’re dried, the flowers and herbs will be dry and crumbly to the touch, so be gentle when handling them.
- Place the dried plant material into a container that you can seal. The fragile petals may crumble a little, but that’s okay. Don’t worry too much about how this container looks because it won’t be what you’ll be using to display the finished product in.
- Add in any essential oils of choice you’ll be using to your dried items. This is what will make your potpourri really pop. This step is optional so feel free to skip it if you want purely the natural fragrance of the flowers and herbs you’ll be using. If you do choose to use essential oils, pick a scent that either enhances the fragrance of your dried plant material or a scent that complements the natural fragrance being emitted by the dried herbs and flowers.
- Seal the container and let it sit for two to four weeks in a cool, dark, dry place. The essential oils will infuse with the dried flowers and make them smell more fragrant. Do not open the container until you’re ready to use the homemade potpourri.
- Add about one to two tablespoons of orris root powder to you potpourri mix and gently toss to combine. This powder will act as a fixative to prevent the essential oil from evaporating too quickly, so that the scent of your mixture smells fragrant for longer.
- Let the mixture sit overnight, then arrange your homemade potpourri in a decorative shallow bowl or jar to display or add it to sachet bags to put into drawers, closets, or to give as gifts.
- For the best results, keep the potpourri out of direct sunlight as this will prevent the colours from fading and preserves the scent of the plant material for longer.
As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor before trying or using any new products. I am not a doctor. All opinions expressed are my own personal thoughts and feelings of the products mentioned. Check with your doctor or health practitioner if you are uncertain about trying out any of the products, recipes or tips mentioned in this post.
Have you made homemade potpourri before? What combinations of spices, flowers, herbs and/or fruits did you use? Share in the comments below.
Lots of love,
Vanessa
