British Travel Journal | Spring 2020

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peonies and sweet peas come into their own, and right through to the first frosts it is always colourful and gloriously scented.” Close by, the Fougere (French for ‘fern’) garden is a heady mix of lavender, rosemary, clary sage, and mint as well as hundreds of different ferns, their earthy scent mixing perfectly with the pungent herbs; while the Citrus garden – a favourite of David’s - is an especially fresh and exciting addition, with a host of tangy scents and aromas. The Spice Garden reflects the colours and scents of a contemporary spice market and is designed in geometric, block-planted beds, inspired by the works of Kandinsky. It includes classic spices such as bay and fennel, and the more unusual, like Vietnamese coriander and perilla. All the plants in the Collection are related in some way to fragrance, and many have fascinating histories. “The gardens help us to bring to life some of the stories behind perfume making,” says Julia. Walking around the gardens, visitors are encouraged to rub the leaves between their fingers, and to allowing the different scents to release into the air. Julia explains that: “The plants are here for us all to enjoy. We want them to look – and smell – wonderful.” Entry to Keyneston Mill’s gardens is free throughout the winter, but you can also do garden tours that focus on specific flowers and herbs in the gardens, as well as workshops where Julia and her team share some of the process of perfume-making, and in particular the harvesting and distilling process that runs throughout the summer and into autumn. The process of creating Parterre fragrances is quite complex, as every plant has to be treated differently, and the team now works with over 40 different crop varieties at any one time. As an example, Julia takes me through the process of working with rose-scented geraniums. “We propagate and nurture them indoors until May, when we plant them out in the perfume fields in rows. They are then tended for the next few months until it is time to harvest them, before distilling.” Distillation takes place in the converted Long Barn, close to the Collection gardens, using their large still – affectionately called Dorothy - which extracts the oil from the foliage and flowers. The timing and the detail has to be very precise, and the intensity of fragrance is achieved through the careful nurturing of the plants, each of which is picked at the optimum moment. “Most plants, such as rose geranium, are harvested in the early morning and taken directly to the distillery, resulting in essential oils infused with freshness,” says Julia. “But, others, like vetiver root, are dried before distillation, a process that takes several days and produces an extract of rare depth and richness.” After the oils have matured and been tested for several months, they are sent to Jacques Chabert, Parterre’s master perfumer based in Grasse – who has previously worked with Chanel and Guerlain. Using Parterre’s oils, produced fresh that season, he creates a series of perfumes, which are then bottled and packaged back at Keyneston Mill in Dorset. The whole process from planting to bottled perfume can take 18 months or more, and each perfume is a highly limited edition, because each year Parterre only produces a small amount of the finest oils that form the key notes. From this, only a finite number of bottles of perfume is created from each yearly extraction. Like wine, no two years are the same, and so each bottle of perfume produced has its own unique and rich qualities, meaning a Parterre fragrance is both a luxury item and a unique piece of the British countryside. u BritishTravelJournal.com 45