Would you like to grow your own perfume garden or design a fragrant landscape, guided by an attention not just to which plants are aromatic, but by detailed knowledge as to the time of day the plants emit their scent, bloom periods, how much they project, the intensity of the aroma, and a thick description of that smell? The Grower-Perfumer’s Encyclopedia of Smell brings the principles of perfumery to bear on the palette of the gardener. By meticulously documenting the growing conditions and behavior of perfume plants and fragrant edibles in her gardens in Central Vermont and Southern California, grower-perfumer and founder of Wild Veil Perfume Abby Hinsman has compiled an extensive record of experiential and empirical information on growing plants through the nose of a perfumer. She is now ready to share this record in the form of a phenomenological reference guide to smell. The Grower-Perfumer’s Encyclopedia of Smell will take you on an olfactory journey from the end of the hoe, to the perfumer’s cellar, to the nose’s studio. Richly illustrated with her own photographs of her plants and accompanied by botanical history, etymology, folklore, ethnobotany, and other relevant context, this book eschews generalities and dives deep into the micro. Hinsman takes a granular approach to aroma, looking at the distinct scent markers of cultivars within the same species, and scent variations within the same plant across different climates, times of year, terroir, ecosystems, and growing zones. Written at the intersection of diary and encyclopedia, this tome offers a naturalism wherein direct observation of nature strives for subjective accuracy. The Grower-Perfumer’s Encyclopedia of Smell will delight the aesthetic and sensory inclined as a conversation piece, but it also functions as a down in the dirt practical guide for the grower-perfumer. And even though it is written from the perspectives of Central Vermont and Southern California, you will be able to extrapolate from it according to where you are growing, modifying for soil type, humidity, sun, exposure, and temperatures.
PRE-ORDER: The Grower-Perfumer’s Encyclopedia of Smell, Volume 1. 2025 release.
☽•☾ The immediate download is an outline of the book's contents (this is a pdf file and will be emailed to the email address provided when ordering). The full volume will be emailed as a digital file to the customer upon its release in 2025 (subject to change). ☽•☾
The Grower-Perfumer’s Encyclopedia of Smell, Volume 1:
A problematic reference guide to the scented world. Mostly plants. Some animals. Some in-between and some both.
A partner to the Lexicon of Smell: https://wildveilperfume.com/pages/lexicon-of-smell
As well as to the Language of Smell: https://wildveilperfume.com/blogs/the-language-of-smell
Acronyms and abbreviations:
• WVPG - Wild Veil Perfume Gardens
• WV - Wild Veil
• WVP - Wild Veil Perfume
ENTRIES:
• Plants and extracts from online catalog wildveilperfume.com,
• In house tinctures
• In house absolutes
• Plants in WVPG Vermont (growing zone 4b)
• Wild plants in old growth forest Vermont
• Plants in WVPG De Luz (growing zone 10b)
• Wild plants De Luz
• Seeds
• Potted plants
• Bulbs, rhizomes, tubers.
EACH ENTRY:
• Perfumer's photographs
• Thick description scent encyclopedia of fragrant plants/world with:
- Botanical binomial name,
- Alternative names,
- Etymology,
- Plant history,
- Ethnobotany,
- Mythology and folklore,
- Toxicity,
- Nutrients,
- Cultivars:
• Visual description,
• Tactile description,
• Taste description,
• Growth habits,
• Growing notes,
• Pollinators and other insects,
• Scent descriptions:
- Living plant
• Plant parts
- Cured plant
• Plant parts
• Notes on methods:
- Extraction via:
• Enfleurage,
• Tincture,
• Steam distillation,
• Curing
- Method:
- Plant parts:
- Charges:
- Duration:
- Yield/return:
- Physical characteristics:
- Aroma:
- Note:
- Fixation:
SCENT CATEGORIES WITH SUGGESTED NATURAL SOURCE MATERIALS
Copyright Abigail Hinsman, Wild Veil Perfume, 2024. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication or distribution prohibited by intellectual property and copyright laws.