29/05/2026
๐ชด Last year we introduced Iris germanica var. florentina (Florentine Iris) into our herb garden and it is now flowering. While the flowers emit a subtle floral scent, it's the roots or rhizomes that hold the real marvel. Freshly dug, the roots have only a faint earthy, slightly bitter scent, but when dried and left to age for several years, their chemistry changes and they develop a most amazing and long lasting scent of violets.
Historically, dried pieces of the root were placed in linen cupboards and laundry chests to repel insects and to scent clothes. They were also used to flavour wine, most notably Chianti wine from Tuscany. Their primary use however was as a finely ground powder known as Orris Root powder.
In this form it served as a vital fixative to stabilise volatile scents in high-end perfumes. It was also widely used in hair powder to perfume and whiten the elaborate wigs that were fashionable in the 17th and 18th centuries. Hair powder made from Orris Root became an important symbol of wealth and status.
Orris Root was also a key ingredient in inks. Mixed together with iron sulphate it produced a dark and lightfast pigment which was widely used to make black writing ink.
Florentine Iris is a natural hybrid of the Mediterranean and was for centuries cultivated, processed and traded in Florence, hence its name. Come and see it in the herb garden at Pitmedden!
