Among the many wild brush in the salt-air licked hills of Tuscany is this wonderfully fragrant one: Artemisia Maritima. It is a native species of wormwood, also known as sea wormwood. Although the name isn’t very flattering the fragrance is a multi-faceted treat.
Welcome to Summer: Genista. From spring to early summer these flamboyant shrubs paint the Mediterranean hillsides in swaths of bright yellow color and perfume the air with intense honey and vanilla notes like scented wands.
The appreciation of this plant, in all its parts, is not news. Since ancient times myrtle has been used, especially the leaves and fruit, for everything in the kitchen from seasoning meats and wrapping fresh mozzarella, to making liquors and for natural botanical remedies to treat respiratory ailments or skin treatments. But let’s talk about the scent.
Taking a little break from the long list of florals that are making our heads swirl to give the proper call out to one of the fragrance industry’s biggest players: Lemon leaves. Yes, just the leaves for now because they tell an important part of the scent story.
For some flowers you need to really concentrate and breathe up into the top of your nasal passage to get the full effect. Not these. Intense musky notes with an earthy talc and seductive layer of pollen sweetness fill your nose without much effort at all. Iris. Glorious Iris.
Visit the Tuscan coast in early spring and you may come upon a covering of these wild cyclamen (Cyclamen hederiflium) dotting the forest floor of the pineta (pine forest). An unexpected burst of penetrating aldehydic floral notes (green, metallic, and talcy) gives the sense of the most wonderful fresh linens.
Sign up for our newsletter to receive 10% off your next purchase and the latest news and promotions.
