“Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance” continues at Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, through November 21, 2010. An intersection of flora, fashion and science, this exhibition has transformed the Conservatory into a museum for the senses. You, Road Trips Gardeners can experience the actual plants and flowers behind iconic perfumes, explore the mysterious power of the sense of smell, discover the unique combination of creative artistry and intricate science behind perfume composition, and have the opportunity to compose a basic fragrance at the Make Your Own Fragrance stations located in the Music Room.

The exhibition is divided into four major sections: Into a Fragrant World, The Art of Perfume & Fragrant Gardens, The Science of Fragrance, and Your Fragrant Garden.

More than 260 different Genera of aromatic plants and flowers have been added specifically for the exhibition, joining more than 5,500 types of plants from around the world already housed in the historic conservatory. “Making Scents” also explores the sense of smell and how scent molecules send signals to the brain that trigger moods, emotions and memories.

The exhibition showcases the technical processes behind perfume creation, from traditional harvest and extraction methods to chemical combinations of synthetic fragrances. It also traces key moments in the history of perfume, beginning with the earliest recorded Egyptian scent around 1800 BCE and culminating with Coco Chanel’s release of No. 5 in 1921, the first perfume for the “modern woman”.

(Photo by Rob Cardillo and Andrea Jones, courtesy of Longwood Gardens)