Ambrette Seeds for Perfume Project Mailed Out

by Anya McCoy | Apr 30, 2015 | Anya's Garden Perfumes, Giveaway, natural aromatics, natural perfume, raw materials of perfumery | 4 comments

I have great news: I had the seeds planted in my Miami garden on Tuesday, April 21, when the moon was in an infertile sign, Gemini. I had to have my garden helper plant them, and that was the only day she was available. I would have loved fertile Cancer, but sometimes you have to go with the flow. Well, despite brutally hot weather, when I was out there watering the patch twice a day, and then massive downpours, the seeds germinated! I didn’t take a photo yet, because lots of little weed seedlings also popped up, and it looked messy, but here’s a photo of okra seedlings germinating, and ambrette is closely related, so they look like this:

okra cotyledons (first leaves). from haveyoueverpickedacarrot.com – cotyledons are not true leaves, they emerge next.

All of the seeds are packed up and on their way to the international group of natural perfume enthusiasts who want to try their hand at growing them, harvesting, drying, and, ultimately – using them, perhaps in a tincture to extract their scent. Some may have enough to try to distill them, too. As I documented my failure to properly harvest and cure them previously, the seeds they’re receiving only have a very faint scent, but I wrote the gardeners and told them if they bite down on one seed, the scent/flavor will fill their mouth and nose. Yummy!

Ambrette seeds packaged and ready to shipment.

They are used in food and drink around the world and have many medicinal uses, and I’m encouraging the gardeners to experiment if they wish. I’m very excited, and I hope they are, too! I can’t wait for the reports when they come filtering back in, from California, Pennsylvania, Canada, Arizona, Singapore, and many other locales.

1. Rae Lynn Reffruschinni on April 30, 2015 at 7:56 pm (Edit)

   I can’t wait to hear about the results of their growth in all those places!

   Reply
2. Julie on April 30, 2015 at 10:11 pm (Edit)

   Very exciting Anya!

   Looking forward to the results that you share.

   Reply
3. Eileen Jackson (virlusun) on May 1, 2015 at 8:05 am (Edit)

   🙂

   Reply
4. Kim on May 5, 2015 at 6:15 pm (Edit)

   Greetings Anya, from Australia. I have just seen your post and would love to take part in this project. I hope you have some seeds left and I’m wondering how I can obtain some. Looking forward to hear from you. So love all you are doing for natural perfumers. Blessings Kim