STEP INSIDE THE GREENHOUSE

Often a belljar of memories for perfume-lovers, fecund with fragrant possibilities for a perfumers, we share ways to conjure up the magical scent of the glasshouse

SO MANY of us have treasured childhood memories of exploring greenhouses, perhaps in the company of a grandparent who’d encourage us to fondle and smell the leaves of tomatoes (or geraniums). This eye-widening moment of revelation, like a gateway to sensory Narnia, is something that many perfumers and perfume-lovers share: the childish delight at discovering the world is filled with scented wonders for us to discover.

A greenhouse’s scent is unmistakable: plant aromas, against a background of warmly steaming, loamy soil, and freshly watered pots exuding petrichor (those molecules released the second water hits previously parched earth). We could potter for hours, among these...

Freshly dug soil pressed into pots and nurtured within a Victorian greenhouse – imagine the sun-warmed botanical lushness, lungfuls of steamy air redolent of ripening tomatoes, the sensation of lifting their furry leaves to your face. Available as a candle or room diffuser.

2 EARL OF EAST Greenhouse Car Fragrance

Carry your greenhouse wherever you may travel, thanks to this genius ‘portable fragrance for new adventures.’ A blend of vine tomato, parsley seed and basil, it was (but of course) ‘inspired by long summers spent in grandparents’ gardens.’

A limited edition collab with ISSIMO, the shoppable lifestyle division of the famed Pellicano Hotels, imagine basil, spearmint, bamboo, tomato leaves, softened by amber and spiced with a most generous grind of black pepper.

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Described as a ‘common garden strawberry deconstructed and unexpected’, this always-quirky house beckons us into a greenhouse bursting with fruitiness that is conjured via bergamot, pink pepper, warm musk, jasmine petals and orris. Juicy, juicy, juicy.

5 L’ARTISAN PARFUMEUR Vétiver Écarlate

A juxtaposition of the tomato leaf and woodiness, playfully shaped by Quentin Bisch, who enhances the mix with notes of hot peppers, freshly squeezed grapefruit, warm soil, further grounded by a dewy, grassy shade of vetiver.

6 BATHHOUSE Greenhouse Diffuser

Here, we are invited to ‘Breathe in slowly the scent of lemon thyme, geranium and garden mint. In the silent hours, aromatic green tomatoes ripen slowly on the vine and the pungent notes of chrysanthemums mix with earth, moss, and fern. Herbal, green and utterly divine.

7 NOBLE ISLE The Greenhouse

Available not only as a candle but also a hand wash, cream and body lotion, this collaboration with Sussex’s celebrated, award-winning Gravetye Manor hotel and restaurant captures in particular the scent of Sungold tomatoes, gathered alongside mint, melon, bergamot and honeysuckle.

8 STORIES Nº.02 Candle Trio

In this candle set, the top, heart and base notes of the STORIES No.02 spritzable fragrance – see below – are spliced with a twist of creativity, best enjoyed at dusk. With doors flung open in the summer, let the darkening, cool garden air mingle with this to literally bring the outdoors within, at a whim.

9 STORIES Nº.02

Founder Tonya Kidd-Beggs’s grandfather had a glasshouse where she would rub tomato leaves on her wrists. That bright yet musky sharpness mixes with pipe smoke, encircling rose cuttings, pots of patchouli, an earlymorning mistiness presaging warm, golden days filled with delights.