A spring morning. The air is mild and a gentle wind has lifted the sunlit haze of dawn. Clouds form, only to break against the blue. Boughs of blossom reach over the doorway to the greenhouse, quietly dropping their pink-white petals. Inside beckons, smelling of fresh soil, warm earth and new, green shoots.

It is this particular scent of an English greenhouse - at once rich, heady, lightly floral and spicy - which we have sought to capture for Spring 21.

We began by laying the foundation: the distinctive smell of soil from which all life must come. For this we turned to vetiver, with its earthy, woody undertones and ginger, with a warm, spicy aroma - the scent of soil baking in the sun. Onto this we mixed pink pepper and basil, echoing the fresh, peppery notes of young green shoots.

Complimenting this culinary sharp-ness are the soft notes of bergamot and the zest of green mandarin. In their succulence they capture the dense foliage of the greenhouse, the lagoons of emerald-grey that grow abundantly in the corners.

We brought in jasmine as a quiet reminder of the spring blossom in the garden - sweet and floral. And we grounded its delicacy with the more resinous, woody notes of cedar, a reflection of the greenhouse’s old wooden frame and the woody vines that interlace the ceiling.

For the centrepiece we chose, after many iterations, the bitter orange tree - this vivid streak of colour, a perfect counterpoint to the backdrop of green. Each element of the orange tree comes with its own unique scent. For Spring 21, we decided to incorporate them all.

First the petitgrain, sharp and faintly herbal, taken from the leaves and twigs. Then the neroli, honeyed and airy, produced by steam distillation of freshly picked orange flowers. To deepen the neroli we added orange blossom absolute, created from the same flowers but with an entirely different extraction method, resulting in a more heady, richer scent. Finally, we turned to the rind itself - a juicy, bitter, citrus note.

Once the maturation of the fragrance was complete, we even added orange blossom water instead of the traditional pure water, happily incorporating a byproduct of the steam distillation process.

The resulting scent is light, spring-like, yet full of depth. We hope you enjoy its evolution and as ever, look forward to hearing what you think.