What’s a Tussie-Mussie?

If you found a tussie-mussie, would you know what to do with it? Well, our hotel guests all find a tussie-mussie in their bathroom, with a note suggesting that they put this fragrant posy into their bath water, where the natural oils will be released, creating a fresh and fragrant bathing experience.

Tussie-mussies were a popular accessory in the sixteenth century, when they were known as nosegays. People in those times would carry a tussie-mussie in order to disguise unpleasant street smells, and it was also said to provide protection from airborne disease. Apart from their fragrant nature, tussie-mussies also embodied hidden messages based on the symbolic meaning bestowed on each plant  in the posy. Sage, for example, stood for‘domestic virtue’, while rosemary symbolised ‘remembrance’. Thus each bouquet could act as a charming personalised gift.

The Babylonstoren tussie-mussie, showed off here by Wendoline, one of our gardeners, consists of herbs from our fragrant indigenous garden as well as herbs from the tea garden, and includes cuttings from the peppermint pelargonium, wild dagga flowers, buchu leaves, sage flowers and yarrow flowers, amongst others.