'Sacheting' Toward February 14 with Lavender

This is the time of year when I wish I had more Lavender. This is the time of year when I like to take full advantage of its fragrance by drying it for sachets. 

Lavender and other herbs are easy to dry, and they keep their fragrance for quite some time. For Valentine’s Day and spring holidays on the more distant horizon, they make the perfect central ingredient for homemade gifts.

Indoors right now, I do have one container of Lavandula angustifolia, Goodwin Creek. Often called true Lavender or English Lavender, Lavandula angustifolia grows year after year if planted in the right climates or over-wintered in indoor warmth. 

This plant’s strong stems make it a fuss-free toughie. Give it bright light and well-draining soil, and then leave it alone. It wants neither a lot of water nor fertilizer. In fact, pampering English Lavender will do more harm than good.

My plant has not a bloom on it at present, but its foliage is all I need. Lavandula angustifolia, Goodwin Creek has grayish, tooth-edged foliage emerging from fibrous stems of the same color. Every part of this plant can be dried, snipped, and crushed to release its fragrance. Like all Lavenders, Lavandula angustifolia is known for its perfume, which is appreciated by women and men, young and old. It is a clean, herbal, invigorating scent—just what we need in winter, whether we live in a warm or cold climate.

Here, where my ‘world’ is undeniably cold at this time of year, I have always admired my cousin who is an expert gardener. My cousin can grow anything from a seed or plant-start into a mound of beauty. In summer, her garden spills over with flowers. And yes, this skill has almost forced her to learn how to dry flowers and foliage effectively, as everything grows so abundantly for her.

For years, my cousin lived in a home with exposed rafters. She would bundle stems of plants she wished to dry, tie them, and hang them upside-down from those rafters so that flower-tops could stay intact and gravity could allow leaves to fluff out. But in a new home, her ceiling is covered. Drying is now done by hanging bunched stems from shelves, furniture knobs… virtually anything that allows these ‘bouquets’ to benefit from good airflow. (Airflow prevents mildewing.)

When it comes to drying flowers, I have not ‘honed my chops’ enough to achieve what my cousin does. But I can dry Lavender. It does not take long to dry my Lavandula angustifolia, Goodwin Creek. I can cut stems, tie them or simply place them where they will benefit from good air circulation, and then wait just a bit. In time for Valentine’s Day, I will have dried foliage to mince up and package in simple bags that are thin enough for scents to escape. With minimal effort, I will create perfect gifts that friends can place in closets or clothing drawers—anyplace hands will brush by them, helping them to release their essential oils and scent even more.

If I want to get fancy, as I dry my English Lavender, I can also hang a single rose upside-down. I have found that drying roses in this manner will not preserve their fragrance, but the dried petals can be crushed to add color-contrast to my sachets. And if I want extra insurance that my sachets will give off their perfume with ease, I can add a few drops of pure essential oil to take this gift to the next level.

A Lavender sachet for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, the First Day of Spring—I would love to be on the receiving end. Simple yet sophisticated, this is a gift that almost anyone would love. And that is why I also love to be on the giving end.