Plants for Potpourri

Considerations

• Make potpourri blends by drying your garden flowers or old bouquets. Many pre-packaged pot-potpourris can sit on shelves for unknown lengths of time. Cheaper brands are often artificially scented with chemical fragrances to keep them pungent.

Flowers

• Flowers that retain their fragrance when dry are the best candidates for potpourris. Some favorites are roses, lavender, wisteria, jasmine and lilacs, but don't shy away from using any flowers you have. If you like the scent when they are fresh, chances are you will also like them dried.

Herbs

• Herbs are extremely fragrant, dry well and keep long. Some herbs you might enjoy in your potpourri for their long-lasting scent are rosemary, lemon balm, thyme, oregano and sage.

Parts

• Flowers and leaves are not the only things that come from plants that can impart heavenly scents. Raid your spice cabinet for cinnamon, allspice or cloves, or add a few drops of pure vanilla extract. Dried citrus peels can lend a fresh, cheerful fragrance. Even broken twigs, bark and pinecones from trees in the park can create an interesting balsam-scented potpourri.