Studding oranges with cloves at the garden centre

Cluster of chinotto bitter orange blossoms with fleshy white petals and yellow stamens

We've started studding oranges with cloves for the Christmas display at the garden centre, a bit early, I know. By mid-morning the potting shed smelled of sweet orange peel and warm spice, and my thumbs had gone brown. The page on sweet orange and the pomander calls the clove-studded orange a pomander, left to cure to freshen the air and keep linen drawers pleasant, and the Class on the scents of Christmas has the rest of the December palette. Shout if you get stuck.

Sweet orange Clove

3 comments

mags.lavender October 2, 2026

My nan did these every year and hung them in the wardrobe. Lovely smell, a lot of sore thumbs.

kemi.cocoa October 3, 2026

Doing this with my class before the holidays. Orange and clove is my mum's kitchen.

juniper_jules October 3, 2026

I pressed cloves into a test tile once, just to see. It smelled warmer then the orange alone.