It’s easy to fall in love with spring floral fragrance, but it takes a gardener to delve into the world of autumn aromatherapy. This is particularly true in the west and other climates where moisture levels in both the air and the plant drop to their lowest point of the year. The reason these species don’t perish from dehydration is due to a high oil content within the stem and leaf. These oils are aromatic, quickly evaporating into the air, releasing the scent. This has made the plants valuable as culinary flavoring to many cultures for centuries, from Native Americans to the ancient Greeks. When decorating time comes in autumn, these fragrant beauties offer us inexpensive, natural materials from the garden to fill our homes with their wholly organic scents.
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Eucalyptus species bear aromatic twigs and foliage, but
Eucalyptus pulverulenta is favored by florists for its leaf color and shape.
Photo Credit: Maureen Gilmer
In mild climates,
rosemary can grow to a very large size, making plenty to cut and use in the fall.
Photo Credit: Maureen Gilmer
This beautiful aromatic garden features the yellow blossoms of
Santolina chamaecyparissus.
Photo Credit: Maureen Gilmer
Yarrow is an old-time herb that produces beautiful, easily-dried flowers and foliage that lend subtle fragrance to autumn arrangements.
Photo Credit: Maureen Gilmer
Aromatic plants make beautiful additions to the landscape – for the eyes, as well as the nose.
Photo Credit: Maureen Gilmer
Using fresh cut aromatics is a great way to make your fall décor extra special. Don’t be shy about using quantities of them because aromatics can be less intense than many floral fragrances. They also share a unique ability to cue the human mind to recall memories of vivid leaves, walks among the maples, fond family times and loved ones.
The most abundant fall aromatics are broadleaf evergreen trees and shrubs from the garden. (I didn’t include needled evergreens in my list because their scents are more specifically linked to winter holidays.) Woody evergreens contain plenty of material on stronger branches and twiggy stems that offer structural forms, as well as scent. Here are a few fragrant winners:
Large cuttings can be set into containers of water to gradually dry out while on display, releasing their fragrance over time rather than all at once. You can also trim your interior cuttings to release periodic bursts of scent. In fact, regular trimming of aromatic plants like this is an old Roman trick. They sheared the oil-rich plants in their open courtyards to envelop the space in fragrance, which also masked the surrounding city odors.
(These brutally sheared plants became the basis for the art of topiary.)
This second group of plants, most used for Roman topiary, contains more familiar perennials and subshrubs. These plants ask for far less space and are thus more suited to city gardeners. The plants may be still green and growing well into winter, but where fall comes early they must be cut then dried in bundles to use later. Most of these are familiar herbs that may have no culinary value, but they’re so rich in oils that they’ve long been used in households to deter insect pests. Here are some examples:
These plants can be used as potted topiary in red clay pots for outdoor enjoyment during the summer. Bring them indoors in fall to augment your autumn arrangements, then feel free to snip with scissors to fill your room with their earthy fragrance.
Of course, this is just a peek into the exciting world of autumn aromatherapy that evokes memories of hearth and home. There are so many more candidates to consider, some of them natives that may prove more tolerant of the cold and damp.
We tend to look at decorating the home as more of a visual form of creativity, but that’s thinking on a single plane. When you delve into the art of combining these aromatic plants of old, you’ll discover a new multidimensional approach. The earthy flavors not only delight the conscious mind, they can evoke the magic balm of memory and the good feelings that follow.
