Natural scents in our homes

[Toddy]

Years ago, I wrote this to a friend,

"I admit that at this time of year I long for scents. Natural scents, and not fake candle/weird pot pourri, sickeningly headache inducing air freshener scents, but real ones.

Pine I can get, and the quince is lovely, and I dry my own roses, but in centrally heated homes, they need a boost. So, I went looking for Port Orford Cedar shavings, and instead I found a fellow in Inverness offering spoon blanks and the like. I contacted him and he has offered me real cedar, of Lebanon, Port Orford, and 250 year old Caledonian Pine shavings too

I know I'm not the only one looking for natural scents this time of year, and I know fine that an awful lot of folks have no access to timbers for spoon carving and the like.

The shavings arrived today, and the house smells wonderful I could smell them even through three layers of plastic wrapping
My own preference is for the Port Orford cedar, but they're all really good. The pine is so right for just now."


Well, it's that time of year again. It's cold and wet and windy outside, and I love those scents of fresh cut timbers, resins and the like in my home.
I really, really don't like fake headache inducing artificial ones.
The fellow in Inverness no longer sells Port Orford cedar though, and he never did sell the pieces of the bark that somehow seem richer in scent.

However, I know that Port Orford cedar was planted in the south for a while, Norfolk and the like, and it thrived there. I know that archers like the shafts made from it, but I have no connections to anyone working with it from the raw.

What else has a smell that's lovely in the house ? The bog myrtle, the sweet gale, is very good, and I grow it to put into my bowls of dried stuffs, but there must be other native plants that we can use ? Lady's bedstraw is very good, but it's not robust enough to give that faint background scent in a centrally heated home. It's fine as a strewing herb.

Any ideas ? and does anyone have Port Orford cedar growing ?

M

 

[Kadushu]

I grow hops just for this reason but the scent does wear off quickly.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Can't beat eau de chien but that was then, Had some quinces perfuming the air earlier this month & now it is fresh paint as I redecorate after having been flooded last year. Fortunately acrylic paint is less toxic than oil based stuff & it does make the rooms smell fresh, at least for a while.
Burning dried lavender flowers does give an 'exotic' aroma, & the stalks continue to burn for a few minutes like incence sticks.

 

[Bhod]

I long for the smell of wet dog in the house for one last time, our two Springers died within 4 months of each other two years ago, still miss them terribly

 

[Chainsaw]

I had some leylandii drying out beside the stove. Surprisingly nice before I did some homemade pakora and the house smells of garam masala

 

[John Fenna]

As a trained aromatherapist I use natural oils of various plants for various "moods" but the background is always from the woodpile next to the wood-burner in the living-room

 

[Toddy]

There used to be one, and just one, absolutely gorgeous pine tree growing in an estate further up the valley from us. We looked it up, because honestly, that tree, it was perfect. It was the ultimate pine tree.
Turns out that it's known as the Grand Fir. Not native so in the clear out it was cut down and shredded

That tree had blisters on it's bark, and the scent of the resin was nicer than that from Balsam fir. Truly a lovely tree.

I would have planted it had I room enough

 

[TeeDee]

As a trained aromatherapist I use natural oils of various plants for various "moods" but the background is always from the woodpile next to the wood-burner in the living-room

How do you tell a trained aromatherapist from an untrained aromatherapist?

No-One Nose...

 

[Broch]

The traditional ones that I'm aware of are:

Sweet Vernal-grass
Wormwood
Meadowsweet

and the oil pressed from the Yellow Flag seeds

Others, include the mints etc. but, as Toddy pointed out, many are used strewn on the floor so the smell comes out as you walk on them.

I know you said no candles Toddy, but home made ones laced with the herbs of your choice maintain a pleasant smell for a reasonable time.

 

[slowworm]

Any ideas ? and does anyone have Port Orford cedar growing ?

Possibly. I have what I think are Lawson's Cypres growing in my woodland and felled one the other year. I logged some up for firewood and have kept several logs of it around the house for their scent. Looking up Port Orfod cedar it seems to he the same plant. I also collected seed from it's small cones and have a couple of dozen plants growing ready to be planted out. They are quite a common garden tree.

I also have quinces giving of scent at the moment, lavender or course, eucalyptus bark and woodruff when I remember to pick it.

 

[Pattree]

That tree had blisters on it's bark, and the scent of the resin was nicer than that from Balsam fir. Truly a lovely tree.

This was probably Grand Fir, Abies grand is. A sweet smell a bit like orange blossom. We cleared a plantation of it at Delamere and debarked it before conversion.

My jacket was coated in orange scented resin. I got some funny looks on the train home.

 

[Nice65]

There used to be one, and just one, absolutely gorgeous pine tree growing in an estate further up the valley from us. We looked it up, because honestly, that tree, it was perfect. It was the ultimate pine tree.
Turns out that it's known as the Grand Fir. Not native so in the clear out it was cut down and shredded

That tree had blisters on it's bark, and the scent of the resin was nicer than that from Balsam fir. Truly a lovely tree.

I would have planted it had I room enough

I know that species, as Pattree says, it's a Grand Fir. I climbed a huge one many years ago and burst so many of those resin filled blisters while climbing I near enough had to chuck my clothes away and shave my head afterwards.

 

[Glow_worm]

I have mugwort drying inside, still smells good nearby. Tansy is another good one.

 

[Billy-o]

I like ambergris. Also rubbing a bit of amber on fine sandpaper. Not much sillage there though.

 

[Toddy]

I have mugwort drying inside, still smells good nearby. Tansy is another good one.

I have both growing in the garden. I like the mugwort but the Tansy's acrid smell lingers and I'm not so fond of it. I grow it mostly for the hoverflies

 

[Glow_worm]

Good for you @Toddy, looking out for the pollinators. I'm always amazed this time of year how much action there still is on the white dead nettle and ivy in my garden... and of course while they're at it they swing by the last of my French bean flowers.

Yes fragrent probably isn't the best word for tansy, it's smell is useful rather than ornament as it repels some insects when dried- I used to help maintain and mill at a working windmill, and we used bunches of the stuff to deter the mill moth. It works a treat.

 

[Broch]

Interesting, not heard of it being used in flour mills before; it makes sense
I have the leaves recorded as an insecticide and to repel flies, ants, and fleas - there's some historic evidence of it being used to deter mice but I'm less sure about that!

 

[Kadushu]

I used to put tansy in my chickens' water to fend off internal parasites.

 

[Toddy]

Tansy pudding was given to children every Spring. It cleared out worms.

Thankfully I have never had worms, but honestly, the pudding.....well, it's different. The leaves aren't 'fruity' at all, but the buttons have a tang of fruit to them.

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

Oakmoss, which is a lichen, is plentiful especially after a storm where it get blown onto the ground. Has to be heated up though so on top of a stove or in front of a fire.

Subtle and woody