Instructions

1. Cut roses when the buds have just opened and the petals are still firm at the base. A fully blown rose sheds its petals on the way indoors, and a tight bud never gives up much scent at all.
2. Pull the petals off and throw away the green calyx and any browned edges. Green plant material dries to a hay smell that fights the rose rather than supporting it.
3. Set a handful of whole buds aside to dry alongside the loose petals. The buds are what make a bowl of this look like something rather than a pile of debris.
4. Spread the petals over lined trays in a thin drift, no more than two deep. Petals fuse where they touch and come out as pink sheets rather than separate pieces.
5. Dry at 39 °C for 8 hours. The low setting is the whole point — heat drives off the volatile oils this recipe exists to keep, and a fast hot run leaves you with coloured paper.
6. They are ready when a petal rustles and shatters at a touch and has shrunk to about half its size, and when a whole bud crackles instead of squashing between finger and thumb. Judge by the buds; they always lag behind.
7. Stir the orris root and the rose oil together in a glass bowl first, then fold the cooled petals through that. Orris is a fixative: it holds the oil and releases it slowly, where oil dripped straight onto dry petals gives you dark spots that smell strong for a fortnight and then nothing.
8. Seal it in a jar for a fortnight before you put it out, shaking it every few days. The scent needs that time to move evenly through the petals.
9. An open bowl stays fragrant for about three months and a closed jar for six. When it fades, stir in a few more drops of oil rather than starting again.