Online - February 28, 2006

Crock Pot-pourri

Potpourri Is Back

Seniors get all the good stuff — seats on the bus, shame-free crocheted Barbie doll toilet paper covers. Some would even argue the merits of adult diaper days.

But the time has come to take back potpourri. Usually relegated to dusty corners, it really is the hardest working, most dependable air freshener money can buy.

We suggest starting with a classic — Santa Maria Novella. An oldie but goodie in its own right (the family was the original perfumer to the Medici family), the blend of flowers and herbs, with notes of olive, eucalyptus, and a little light spice is nothing like the baby powder/rose garden perfumed mess you usually associate with the bowls of dried buds.

If the smell hooks you but the sight of potpourri on display makes you feel three sheets to the nursing home wind, treat it like a fine set of dentures.

Hide it from view.

Available online at santamarianovellausa.com.