Think potpourri, where everything in it is a dried herb, no matter what recipe you use. You can freshen it up by adding a drop or two of essential oil, and when you make up the mixture, usually a small amount of orris root powder is added. It has its own perfume (sort of violet-y) but it is used as a 'fixative' to help the perfumes of the dried herbs last longer.

Freeze or dry herbs and cook with them. Nothing makes my house smell more herbal than cooking with them! I know. Not the answer you were looking for but a way to treat the nose as well as the tastebuds! :)

FataMorgana

I haven't had good luck with dried herbs as either a wreath or potpourri. They get looking "used" and grey quickly and lose their smell even quicker.

You can put fragile dried herbs in a small decorative bowl. Every once in awhile break some of them up between your fingers. Your hands will have that smell you love, and the aroma will be released. You should be able to smell it for the next day or so, as you walk past your bowl of herbs.

I have a small bowl of dried cedar, and another of lavender. Once in awhile I pick up a pinch of one or the other and sprinkle some on the carpet as I am vacuuming. The heat of the vacuum releases the scent, when the herbs are vacuumed up.

If you have potpourri, you must 'finger' it as Lorna-organic says. Disturbing it really does release the aroma. In fact, that's why potpourri is kept in an open bowl - to encourage people to play with it for that reason.

I always put a few drops of essential oil (my favourite is lavender) in the bag of the vacuum cleaner. It's marvellous how it dispels the perfume as you vacuum. Also from time to time I mix together some bicarbonate of soda and a few drops of essential oil and sprinkle it over carpets. I leave it for a few minutes before vacuuming. The perfume lasts for a surprisingly long time, and it does help to absorb other odours from the house.

I use essential oils rather than potpourri, because my house is tiny, and I have very few places to put decorative bowls etc. There isn't even room for a coffee table, which is the ideal place for potpourri.

Also, remember this. Your nose will quickly become accustomed to the smell of potpourri so that you won't notice it. But if you leave the house for a few hours, then come back into it, as a visitor does, you'll notice it once again. So don't just assume that the potpourri has lost its aroma - it hasn't. Your nose is playing tricks on you - this is quite normal. (Think how quickly we get used to a really bad smell - after a while we just don't notice it. Well, it works the same way with pleasant smells too.)

Thanks for all the ideas. I'm going to try them, with hubby's permission. Nope, not a submissive thing! He had a long bout of chemo a few years ago, and grew nausous over any of my scented candles or potpourri, Since then, it's been iffy if he can take a smell or not. He's the chef, though, so he loves to cook with both (and lavendar.) Hopefully, the smells make him hungry, not nauseous. LOL

One question: where do I get orris root powder?

westelle, I know the problem with using them for wreathes. My best luck has been with bay. Obviously, it doesn't stay that dark green it has when fresh, but the only reason I have to redo our herb/spices/ingredient wreath in the kitchen is because of all the cooking gooey it has gathered over the last ten years. As for "spices," it also has some whole nutmeg (which looks like unshelled pecans), and vanilla beans "shooting" out of it like sunbeams. It also has whole star annise on it, and "flowers" made of dried wasabi beans glued together on a toothpick.

Of course, it was very expensive to make, since I didn't grow herbs back then, but have been growing a bay for the last couple of years, so, in "just" another 7 years or so, I can make a new one cheaper. LOL

Thanks again, for all the suggestions!

For the orris root powder, you could try a florist, or a craft shop. Or try growing your own! It's Iris x germanica var. florentina, and be patient. Collect roots in the second or third year of growth. Peel and chop while soft, then dry for at least 2 years before the scent is at maximum strength. Grind to a powder.

In the US, one can buy orris root at the pharmacy counter in a drug store. I imagine it is also availabe in health food stores, though I haven't actually seen it in those stores.