Ania, I don't know where you are in CA (or am I reading the wrong thing from your handle?), but aphids are the bane of my existence here in Northern CA. For me, neem only works to an extent. Washing the aphids off my veggies is another thing that works only so well. I've found I've got to do that daily, otherwise, they're just back in full force. DO NOT think you can plant "bait plants" that the aphids will go to and leave the rest of your garden alone. In my experience, those bait plants only became nurseries. Plants I've had to take off my list to grow--period--are brussel sprouts, chard and leafy lettuce. I simply lose the battle entirely and just don't grow them anymore. I quite literally succession plant my zucchini, starting two plants in May and another two plants in July. The reason I do that is because by August, I have lost the aphid battle on my May crop and have to simply pull it out. But having a later batch planted in a different area of the garden will give me zucchini through the summer. So, I mostly just wanted to let you know that you aren't doing anything wrong. They are horrible horrible pests, and if you grow things they like, you'll pretty much have to be out there battling against them all summer long. Spray neem the minute you put your susceptible plants in the ground, and respray weekly. Once the aphids show up, go out and spray them off with water every few days then follow up with the dish soap suggestion or neem after you've washed them off your plants. Don't plant things they love if you don't need to. I had some ornamental sweet peas that I grew near my garden, and it just became an aphid incubator. Won't do that again. At the end of last summer, I bought some concentrate reotene something-or-other that is apparently no longer sold in the US. It was on Johnny's site as an aphid killer, so I bought it, but I haven't tried it yet. Part of the problem finding good stuff is some of it can't be purchased in CA. The cool-looking insecticidal soaps on the seed websites can't be shipped here. So you're just stuck having to do the high-maintenance thing. (And if you aren't having similar problems with microscopic tiny baby hungry brassica-loving slugs, thank the stars! They are my OTHER archnemesis!) Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

I love benzoin, liquidamber orientalis & balsam of peru. I love their smokiness & healing stickiness & vanilly-ness. Lavender, however, goes into virtually everything I make. I keep it by the stove to dash on burns & plop it in my witch hazel to wash my face. Rosemary because it brings me back to the earth. Clary because it reminds me of my grandmother's closet. I'm a soapmaker with an herbalist's life long love of plants-- I have hundreds of oils... I could go on all night. P.S. Very rarely you can find lily of the valley as an absolute (solvent extraction) or an enfleurage (totally long & involved process which does not in the least resemble the one in the movie Parfum). I have never found honeysuckle in any aromatic capacity, but good luck!

tapeworm, my only suggestion is to persist with with your project. The fact that the product does not exist conveys to me that it must be impossible to extract with existing methods. Even if the process would have been frightfully expensive and/or complicated, it would have been discovered, documented and filed away somewhere. You may be at the same mental intersection where Friedrich Wohler was in 1828 before he synthesized urea. Thereafter, ordinary folk, scientists and fertilizer companies would use the term "organic" conveniently; to suit their own purpose.

Suzy, To make a spritzer, the easiest thing to do is buy a small bottle of 'pure lavender essential oil'; (EO) from your health food store. Just make sure the label says that exactly. Some "fragrance oils" are actually carrier oils like canola or almond oil that has had a few drops of pure essential oil of lavender added to it - you can do that yourself with pure EO and much more. Plus carrier oils are oily to the touch, pure EOs are not oily to the touch, they absorb quickly into the skin. That's another way to tell but best bet is to look for proper label wording and read the ingredient list -- there should be only one ingredient: pure essential oil of lavender. With pure EO you can just put 10 drops in a 4oz spritzer with some distilled water, shake well and spritz your skin. Lavender is great for the face, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. I use this to set my pure minteral make up powders. Plus you'll have a whole bottle left for other things like: *Swirl 20 drops on top of your bath water before you step into the tub -- for relaxing and stress relief, lavender can help you sleep and the warm water helps it get further into your skin. *A few drops on a piece of cotton, tuck that into an old cotton sock and put that into your pillowcase for scent to sleep by, again helps w/relaxation *A few drops of the pure oil on a burn, immediately - yes it works to take the sting out and prevent blistering. This is an essential natural first aid in the kitchen and will NOT hurt the burn -- this oil absorbs almost immediately into your skin penentrating at the cellular level to heal. It is not like butter which Drs. wisely advise against as it seals in heat. Google Rene Gatefosse for the full story on lavender oil and burns... *A few drops on cotton balls stashed in pots and other out of the way spots in rooms you'd like to scent naturally *Mix about 4-6 drops per oz of unscented natural body lotion to make your own lavender lotion. I like Trader Joe's brand - just make sure there is no mineral oil or petrolatum/petroleum products in the lotion. *Mix about 4-6 drops per oz of pure canola oil to use as a massage oil. Great for sore feet. Add some pure EO of peppermint to make it really refreshing. *Mix a few drops into a mister filled with rose water or orange blossom water which you can purchase from a middle eastern grocery for a two note fragrance spritz instead of using distilled water. Obviously if you buy another EO that you like the fragrance of, you can mix some of that in too for a light spritzer of 3 notes. Mandarin and graprefruit are wonderful light oils for summer. Be careful, I ended up with over 40 EOs because I got hooked on mixing fragrance! Kept cool and in dark bottles/away from sun, they last forever though... On your questaions: Yes you can pull fragrance from plant materials using alcohol but don't use rubbing alcohol - it smells bad, just take a whiff and you'll see what I mean, very harsh. Vodka has no scent - it's the closet alcoholic's favorite for this reason - that's why it's used but the highest proof will be most effective. Yes you have need to strain out the plant materials and after you are finished with your extraction process you can add some distilled water (non-distilled might let bacteria grow). You will also need to add copious amounts of plant materials to the soaking jar (I'd use a mason with lid), crushing the flowers down into a small amount of liquid over a period of weeks to get some fragrance into the vodka. Placing on a warm windowsill will probably help speed the process. Rose is probably a better choice as you can gather a lot of petals if you grow a few bushes in your yard. With lavender, the scent comes from the flowers and you'll need a lot of them. I think it takes about 2000 lbs of lavender blossoms to steam distill out just a pound of pure essential oil. Obviously leaching the oils out in alcohol is not quite the same and will result in a much weaker fragrance than steam distillation done professionally. Go get some lavender essential oil and maybe a few others and begin playing!