Dye Plants -  seed - plant - share

Seeds to seedlings

Germinating my seeds. Coreopsis. Dyer's Chamomile. Dyer's Greenweed. Weld . Woad . Japanese Indigo. Goldenrod. Safflower. Sunflowers .

Seeds to seedlings

Woad seedlings.

Dyer's Woad Isatis tinctoria (Blue)

I started the seeds in seed trays and pots and just waiting for them to feel hardy enough to handle before planting out.I have several seedlings growing at several stages.

Dyer's Chamomile - Anthemis tinctorial (Yellow)

I started my seeds in pots in my studio in early March and once they were strong enough to handle and the last of the frosts had past I planted them in larger pots and placed outdoors to grow a bit stronger before digging into the dye bed .

Madder Rhizomes Rubia tinctorum (Red)

I planted 12 Madder Rhizomes in a bed all to themselves, I have enclosed them in a recycled cold frame. They are beginning to grow green leafy shoots. This is one for the long haul, it takes at least three to four years before the roots swell to yield a good dye harvest.

Safflower Seedlings

Coreopsis seedlings

Calendula - Pot Marigold

Coreopsis tinctoria

This flowering plant is doing great in the dye plant bed.Looking forward to seeing the first buds appear.

Weld

Dyers Weld is a biennial plant that yields beautiful yellow dye. It seems to be liking the dye bed and growing well.

Borage

Love all the other names for borage -Beeplant,Starflower,Cool tankard,Beebread & Tailwort. Common borage is a wonderful versatile plant ,I am going to experiment with the flowers and leaves to tone my cyanotype prints as well as try plant chromatography experiments.Another bird pleaser in the garden .

Calendula

Calendula AKA Pot Marigold, Ruddles and Hen - Chickens. This wonderful flowering plant is thriving among my potatoes and sunflowers.Also great at attracting polinators.

Coreopsis & Borage

Thriving together and attracting all sorts of tiny pollinators .

Cornflower

Cornflower AKA Bachelor's button,Bluecap, Gogglebuster, Hurtsickle, Blue blob & Corn bottle.This cornflower is thriving with my potatoes and Runner beans ,love the colour contrast with the greens,such a brilliant deep blue.Legend has it that this was favorite of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (b.1632-1675).

Dyer's Chamomile

I have this potted on my window sill and it's going quite tall and willowy ,i am going to move it into a second dye bed.It is a hardy perennial.The flower heads yield bight clear yellows.This yellow daisy - like flowers was the traditional source of yellow dye in traditional dyeing of yarns.

Dyer's Woad

So very happy to see this thrive it's amazing to see how strong and healthy it has grown from its humble seed.This plant has been of huge importance to the dyeing of textiles it was the primary source of blue before Indigo arrived on European shores.It is a biennial plant that forms leaves in its first year and flowers in the next.

Coreopsis

I am delighted how well my tiny Coreopsis seeds have thrived in the Dye bed,these are budding and will soon add a lovely bright yellow and orange contrast to the wonderful deep greens of the leaves. Also known as Golden tickseed.The flowers attract birds and bees and extract a wonderful spectrum of dyes from yellow, red and brown and the leaves and stems give greener tones.

Purple Coneflower

Early on this plant was in serious danger of getting eaten by slugs when I had it potted,once it established itself in the dye garden with a slug barrier (steel wool ) it is thriving.It is just beginning to flower .

Sunflower

These bursts of colour have survived the slugs and are sharing ground with runner beans and potatoes. Looking forward to extracting colour from the heads once they have bloomed.

Weld

This plant is thankfully thriving and getting brighter and bigger as the days go by.It is one of the oldest yellow dye plants.AKA Dyer's rocket.