Well, first of all, give them plenty of water so that they will last as long as possible.

Then, plant lots more, and keep doing what you are doing with them! If you would be so kind, please tell us what sort of lily they are. I'm sure many would appreciate the fragrant tip. Am I right in guessing some sort of Oriental?

Lilies do not hold their fragrance well when dried in general. There must be some potpurri experts in the forum who can tell you more though. Nevertheless there is a wet method of potpurri, in the fragrance of flowers - usually only roses- is extracted using salt. I could explain this to you if you liked.

It is funny that you should mention your instinct to preserve in oil, because when I was 7 years old, before ever having heard of the term , never mind the process, I soaked Lilac and Wisteria in a tray of olive oil hoping to extract the scent. It worked. The resultant product smelled like green olive olive, but also smoky and sulfery and exotic in the case of Wisteria, and sweet and musky in the case of the lilac batch. This is the first time this story is getting out, because, as you may be sure, I was not allowed to cut the flowers, or to take my mother's olive oil!

Classically, enfleurage was made using animal fats. Flowers were left in contact with a thin layer of fat spread on a tray for three days, then covered lightly with with muslin. At the end of the appointed time they would be removed and a fresh batch of flowers applied. This would be done succesively until a pomade of the desired strength of fragrance had been created.

The pomade could then be washed in ethyl achohol into which the scent would dissolve. If the alchohol were evaporated, what would remain is called a fragrant absolute, the essence of fragrance.

Today, Lily is a note used in many signature fragrances - usually Easter Lily - but this was not the case, say before the 1960's. Modern Perfumers use steam distilation solvent extraction or supercritical fluid extraction to obtain lily and other flower fragrances for their concotions. You can't try these methods at home though.

If you have a lot of lilies, you could soak them in vodka, but you would most likely then have lily FLAVORED vodka, rather than a bottle of that of August night. This method, called tincture, is used typically to extract flavors and healing benefits of a particular plant, such as the Juniper berry in gin, or chile peppers in vodka, used as a hair tonic for men, besides its various other folk uses.

Perhaps you will try my olive oil method. You could dispense the fragrance by heating it gently in a tea light warmer. If have grown your lilies organically, the product would be wonderful to use on your body, in all the ways olive oil can be uses - and what intriuging salads you could make! A tip I would like to share with you is that in my experience, it is typically the "low notes" of a particular fragrance that are extracted, and present themselves in olive oil.

If you wanted to try your hand at classic enfleurage, I would suggest extra virgin coconut oil (found at health food stores) or palm oil or coco butter. Coconut oil becomes liquid above 67 F, and will add coconut perfume to your fragrance. Palm oil, is neutral as to fragrance, and is solid, solid, solid. Coco butter has a very light fragrance with a hint of, well chocolate, is solid at room temperature melts at body temerature. This would be my first choice, but it is the most expensive.
You will want to use any of these fats while they are slightly soft, but not liquid, like cool room temperature butter. Keep in mind that Coconut oil is a thin liquid in warm weather and a very firm solid in cool weather.
If nothing else, the fragrant oils can be used to make soap. Another option for you to consider is ghee, or clarified butter. As anyone who has ever placed a sliced onion in the refrigerator knows, butter absorbs smells like nothing else. But if you are an experienced home perfumier, perhaps I am telling you things you already know. Please let us know how you succeed, and enjoy your lilies.
Best wishes,
Matt

IN my experience, every type opf Lily has a differant smell. stargazers,casablancas, etc.

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