Fiore Herbarium - botanical inspirations

Fiore Herbarium - botanical inspirations

Scents and patterns affect your mood, no matter of you are aware of it or not. If you are in a room that smells nice, it makes you feel comfortable. If you feel good in your clothes, you are happy and you have more energy. Therefore, it is worth making sure to have, for example, flowers that smell and look beautiful in your house. You can also use potpourri if you are concerned about the flowers’ freshness.

What is potpourri?

The term “potpourri” comes from the French word “pot pourri” and it literally means “rotten pot”. Even though potpourri is a mixture of flowers and dried aromatic plants nowadays, it was traditionally a mixture of fresh plants, alcohol, salt and oils, that were left to ferment to achieve a much more intensive aroma. Those ingredients were usually kept in clay pots that helped to intensify the essence with time. To achieve the intended effect, potpourri was placed near a source of heat that spread the fragrance all over the room. Today, however, potpourri is a mixture of dried flowers and plants saturated with essences that subtly fill the entire room with their scent.

Botanical inspirations – flowers, petals and...

Choosing the right flowers and the colour of the mixture for the season is an important aspect to take into consideration while preparing potpourri. Just like with Fiore tights and socks with botanical patterns – it is also possible for you to adjust their look to the seasons. White flowers of peony, for example, go together with tights with a powdery bed in a rain of dots. Such a composition looks good with a summer potpourri, consisting of peony petals, lavender, clary sage and a few drops of essential oil that intensifies the aroma of any flower in the mixture.

When red roses in combination with classic black reign supreme on Fiore tights, it’s time to bring home the potpourri with a touch of autumn. An autumn composition may include mallow flowers, rose petals, pine cones, and a few drops of sandalwood essential oil. In such a way, you will be able to give each room a fragrance that is tailored to a certain season: sensual, fresh, relaxing or nostalgic. You can change the compositions in the same way you change the patterns and colours of your tights and socks – multicoloured and bright for the warmer months and subdued and darker for the cooler months.

DIY potpourri

There are lots of wonderful options for making potpourri with dried flowers, spices or fruits. One of the most well-known is the recipe for homemade potpourri which needs a scent fixative. This can be dry moss, sawdust, wood shavings, ground cinnamon or sandalwood leaves. It also requires an aroma, which may be an essential oil. In the end, of course, a fragrant and decorative filling is needed for the potpourri, for example dried flowers. It can be also spices, citrus peels, dried fruits and herbs, tree bark, etc.

You can prepare the potpourri in a few moments, the easiest possible way – dry. Just mix dried petals of different flowers, spices, etc. and add 30 g of fixative for every eight handfuls of dried plants. Such a composition should be kept in a closed container for about four to six weeks. From time to time, it is worth mixing it so that the mixture is saturated with essences. After this period, it can be put into a ceramic pot intended for potpourri, a linen purse or even a bag made of colourful floral tights. If you have a pair that you don’t like anymore, cut off the top and bottom, then add the mixture and tie knots at both ends. You can hang such a potpourri bag for example in a closet.

Fragrant, small dried flowers can also be used when burning vegan soy candles. You can mix dissolved soy wax in a water bath and add your preferred fragrance oil with potpourri or lay them in layers on the solidifying wax. Such a candle lit on cool autumn evenings will make the interior warm and envelop it with a wonderful fragrance.

Experiment using potpourri both in fashion and in decoration. Let floral tights become your inspiration for introducing new details in interior design.