Scottish Botanicals - Wild Gorse

Harvesting gorse

Late April and May is when the gorse flowers most prolifically here in Scotland. It does flower for much of the year, but this is when the bushes are absolutely covered in bright yellow flowers and when I like to harvest them.The gorse grows on the hills just behind my croft.

It is a very invasive plant so we do not encourage it to grow on the croft itself, but it grows freely on the hills and that is where I go to gather the flowers.The smell of gorse is simply amazing. You could think of vanilla, peaches and cream. It is such a warm, sensual smell, and when the sun is out the scent really intensifies.

Harvesting the flowers is not the easiest job because gorse is extremely prickly. The bushes are covered in sharp spines so you have to be careful.  I do not wear gloves because I cannot get into the flowers properly with them on. Instead I gently pick the flower heads by hand and place them into a basket lined with a linen cloth. It is quite a slow and time consuming job, but it is also a really lovely one. You are surrounded by that wonderful scent while you work, and I always harvest on a sunny day when the flowers are at their best.

Drying and preparing the flowers

Once I have gathered the flowers I take them home and spread them out in trays to dry.I have to collect enough at this time of year so that I can use them throughout the year. When they are dried the flowers hold their bright yellow colour, just slightly smaller than when they were freshly picked. Once dried, I mix the gorse flowers with calendula petals, which I also grow here.  We use the petals in the Wild Gorse, Calendula & Lemon soap as it gives a wonderful colour.  I will talk about calendula another time.  Together they are infused in oil which I use in other products, all scented with our own blend of lemon citrus essential oils, to reflect the wonderful bright colour of these plants.  These products you will find listed at the end of this with links to them on the website.

An old plant of the landscape

Gorse is a native evergreen shrub found across the UK, known botanically as Ulex europaeus. It grows well on poor soils and exposed hillsides, which is why it is such a familiar plant in the landscape.  The flowers are well known for their scent, particularly on warm sunny days when the oils in the petals are released.    In days gone by the crofters wives used to spread their laundry on the gorse bushes to scent it. The fragrance is often described as coconut or vanilla.  The smell sadly does not come through in the finished products, but it is still a plant I really enjoy working with.

Products

Wild Gorse, Calendula & Lemon Whipped Body Butter

Nourish Elixir Wild Gorse, Calendula & Lemon Body Oil

Calendula & Lemon Lip Balm - a tangy taste of orange and lemon