Adding lavender or rose petals lends a feminine touch to the scent while those who prefer a more masculine fragrance can add something musky or woody. Try making your own fragrance, mixing and matching different herbs to suit your taste, using the following recipe either as a base or precisely as is.ДЄdd 60 grams freshly chopped Iris root (30 grams commercial orris root powder can be substituted) to 100 ml vodka, seal the bottle and let it infuse for two weeks, shaking the bottle daily, then strain and decant into a perfume bottle. Iris perfume was made by the Romans, the Greeks and the Italians, and for many centuries, the root has been used for its delicate fragrance. When your stock of Irises is such that you are prepared to spare a rhizome then try your hand at making some perfume. Iris root is also referred to as вЂorrisвЂ™ root, particularly where herbal concoctions and fine cuisine are involved. Iris root is also one of the ingredients in ras el hanout, a blend of herbs and spices primarily associated with Moroccan cuisine and used across the Middle East and Northern Africa. In order to produce two kilograms of essential oil you require one ton of Iris root. The root has to be dried and aged first, which can take up to five years, and it is then ground to powder, dissolved in water and distilled. The story goes that they used to carry Iris rhizomes with them for medicinal purposes, but whenever a comrade perished then an Iris rhizome would be planted on his grave because it was believed that the sword-like leaves of the iris would drive away evil spirits.ДЄt one time the roots or rhizomes of the Iris became popular in the field of Western herbal medicine and were used for all sorts of ailments and complaints, but they are now used mainly as a fixative and a base for perfumery and, believe it or not, in the making of many brands of gin. Other sources simply contend that the Iris took its name directly from the Greek word for rainbow due to the fact that it flowered in so many rainbow-like colours.ДЄpparently the spread of Irises can be attributed in part to the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. Legend had it that an Iris grew wherever the footsteps of the goddess touched the earth and this gave rise to one of the common names used for Irises: вЂflower of the rainbowвЂ™.

In Greek mythology, and particularly in the Iliad вЂ“ an epic poem attributed to Homer вЂ“ Iris was a divine messenger who rode rainbows between heaven and earth. It is most likely that the plant was named after the Greek goddess Iris (Iris being the Greek word for вЂrainbowвЂ™).

T he Iris, which is originally from the Northern Hemisphere and belongs to the family Iridaceae, is said to be one of the oldest plants in cultivation and a depiction of it is to be found on the walls of an Egyptian temple that dates back as far as 1500 BC. I rises are frost-hardy and go into bloom from August onwards, their stunningly-coloured flowers creating a magnificent display that continues throughout summer. The Bearded Iris is rated amongst the most beautiful of all the flowering perennials and they have also, over many centuries, been used by herbalists and cultivators for their medicinal, culinary and cosmetic properties.

Bearded iris