A month for little creature comforts. I saw the planets all in a line on a clear night above the East Village. I looked after the doves of a neighbor, observed the beginning of ramadan with friends. The lunar new year arrived, the year of the snake.

One of the truest winters we’ve had for a while. This month brought deep cold and plenty of snow. In the morning when I arrive at the studio, it’s only about 40 degrees fahrenheit indoors, our building has so little insulation. I reassemble my thoughts after the holiday rush…

I’m readying all things cozy at the studio as the winter darkness pulls close around us. A time of year for creature comforts, beautiful scents and rituals to buoy the spirit.

Besides the Autumn poets sing,

A few prosaic days

A little this side of the snow

And that side of the Haze -

- Emily Dickinson -

A month of very little rain. I’ve been trying to care for our perennial plants as best I can at the garden these past few weeks, in the hope that they will not be damaged from the stress. As things quiet a bit in the garden, they become more lively in the studio as I prepare for the bustling months ahead.

This month has been truly lovely in the garden, a spacious respite from the heat of summer. I’ve been very busy in the studio, releasing our botanical perfume, TILTH, and sending lots of treats out to our wonderful shop partners across the country.

At any given moment, there are usually dozens of drafts of various projects around the studio. Experimental aromatic tinctures infusing quietly in their jars, perhaps a box full of ten different tiny vials exploring a minute difference in the concentration of a formula.

We are here in the thick of one of the hottest summers I can remember in New York City. The world is on fire in most other ways, too…

A week of sticky heat has finally given way to one breezy day of respite. The garden grows by leaps and bounds as we slide past the year’s longest day.

Rose season begins again. Long the inspiration for so much of my work, this time of year brings with it a very special magic.

The month of cherry blossoms. Harvested just before the buds are fully open, brined in salt, soaked in ume plum vinegar and placed carefully on trays to dry, and then packed in salt. A spring ritual for the ages…

I can hardly remember a rainier, windier March. It’s been the perfect month to release a fresh batch of the rains, a botanical perfume based on mitti attar, a co-distillation of earthen clay and sandalwood that evokes the scent of rain on earth.