Easy potpourri

It's a breeze to dry pretty petals of your favorite flowers.

Sensuous flowers. Bright bursts of stimulating color. Fragrance to be teased out of aromatic leaves. The garden is an intoxicating place, so much so that if nongardeners knew the pleasure it gives, they'd probably want it outlawed to prevent addiction. Fortunately, it's too late. We're already hooked on the multidimensional wonders springing from our earth.

You can spot true garden addicts by the way they touch plants. They can't go through a garden without stroking, patting, grooming, and plucking. The result is a constant supply of fragrant, pretty blooms and herbs, some of them too irresistible to leave outside. Even if they're wilted, plants are still attractive in color or scent. Here's a delightfully easy way to make this daily harvest do double duty.

Find a handsome colander, and set it on the counter by your kitchen door. Every time you come in from the garden, drop your bounty of new petals into its airy bowl, and stir your fingers through the drying flowers that were dropped in on previous days.

The combination of aeration from the openwork of the colander and the frequent stirring by hand helps the potpourri to dry. Your reward is an ever-changing blend of colors and scents, a delightfully mixed-up diary of the season's blooms, and a dose of wonderful aromatic oils that will perfume your hands for hours.

Once the colander is full and the mix is dry, you can place dainty bowls of this effortless potpourri on tables or in guestrooms to give others pleasure too. If well dried, it lasts quite a long time, and the unique scent can be revived occasionally by a slight warming in the oven or microwave, or with the addition of a few fresh blossoms. But you may find that your potpourri is never finished and never fully dried, because you can't stop adding more flowers. If so, then you've just found another enjoyable aspect of your garden addiction.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Sep 2002
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