December is a month for giving—and what friend does not appreciate getting a personal gift made by your own hands. Here is an idea, and while it may not have come from your own garden, it is an easy-to-make gift. The pomander.
Pomanders (PAH-man-ders) are ornamental balls made of oranges covered with cloves. Today they are usually seen around Christmas time, but they began not as a decorative item but as body perfumes. People would wear pouches filled with sweetsmelling herbs and flowers. Those with little money would fill them with herbs or flowers from their gardens, while affluent people filled them with expensive spices and fruit.
The word pomander comes from the French “pomme d’ambre,” meaning “apple of amber.” The word “amber,” from which the pomander is named, gives us pause to think how far we have come as a society—centuries ago pomander balls were made using ambergris. We can attribute the word pomander to what the affluent people used to fill their pouches. Ambergris is an amber-colored substance produced in the stomach of a sperm whale. Even though ambergris is a byproduct of a whale’s digestive system it is pleasantly sweet-smelling—and rare. Well-to-do medieval folk would flaunt their wealth by wearing carved ambergris around their necks, hence the term pomme d’ambre. Pomme, meaning apple, and amber, the color amber (greenwichhistory.org).
Pomander balls are simple to make and require few supplies:
• Gather oranges, whole cloves, and toothpicks.
• Choose a design. Patterns vary from lines circling the orange, swirls around the circumference, stars, diamonds, or completely covered.
• After the design is decided, take toothpicks and punch holes in the orange (not too deeply because the cloves will fall out if too deep); space holes about a quarter inch apart or narrower, depending on the number of cloves covering the orange.
• Insert clove stems into the premade holes.
• To make a hanging pomander insert a thin wire, stainless steel or copper, through the length of the orange. Tie off the wire at the stem-end of the orange and at the other end make a loop. Thread a ribbon through the loop.
As the pomander dries, the fragrance of orange and cloves meld into a delicate spicy scent. Pomander balls can be hung individually or grouped into an evergreen arrangement.
Children, parents, grandchildren, and grandparents have fun making these!
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.
