Posted by Robin
on
18 May 2009
The ‘Perfume Garden’ by Laurie Chetwood and Patrick Collins is inspired by a perfume created 400 years ago for Elizabeth I. It began with a visit to Grasse to recreate the queen’s perfume with the help of French perfume house Jean Patou, and each plant in the garden has a role to play in the creation of scent. The final design will include an area where visitors can try the contemporary version of Elizabeth I’s perfume for themselves.
— From The Chelsea Flower Show 2009 at Time Out London. You can also read more about the Perfume Garden at the Telegraph or at Perfumer Flavorist.
Posted by Robin
on
18 May 2008
I am walking behind Serge Lutens, the creative director of Christian Dior in the 1960s and 1970s, and perfumer to Shiseido since the 1980s, as he shows me around his garden in Marrakech. Immaculately clad, despite the 30°C Moroccan heat, in a tailored black suit, Lutens, 66, occasionally darts off the path into the dappled greenery, emerging minutes later with a flower or seeds for me to smell. 'This garden has a personality that doesn't want to expose itself,' he says in his thoughtful, poetic manner. 'Except for the palm trees, everything else grows in the shade. The garden and I are similar. I wouldn't like to be too public and this is not a public garden. Every time I walk around here I discover something I don't know, because the garden grows itself.'
— From Grow your own perfume in the Telegraph, in which columnist Liz Hancock looks at gardens grown by Serge Lutens, George Dodd of Scent Systems, Edmond Roudnitksa and Michel Roudnitska.
