Grow your own botanical color at home!
Call it a character trait, but I have never shied away from doing things the hard way. Like many other women in their 30s, born at a time before the internet but coming of age during the techie revolution, I’m drawn to the old world ways: homesteading, cooking & preserving, crafting with natural materials. It may be an attempt to find that part of me that existed before our internet/social media/smartphone-dependent days. But there’s huge satisfaction in working with my hands and creating things from our land. Charlie calls me “Our Resident Witch,” which I take as the highest compliment.
When we began growing a garden a few years ago, we invariably were drawn to useful plants. What do I mean by useful? Plants that could be admired and also eaten, or dried and steeped to make a tea, or preserved in everlasting beauty. Last year, I realized I’d accidentally planted an array of botanical dye plants. I did a little more digging and discovered this whole, beautiful world of natural dyeing. As a novice myself, I am not yet ready to dispense advice about the actual dyeing process, though I’ll include links to several resources I’ve found enormously helpful. However, now in my second year of purposely growing a botanical dye garden and experimenting with results, I can readily advise newbies on the basics of growing your own dyes. These are plants that will impart hues that remain color fast with proper preparation. The best part is, these plants are easy to grow! And such lovely additions to any garden- a truly useful bunch of plants.
Easy to Grow Botanical Dye Plants
Here are few tried-and-true botanical dye plants that I’ve easily grown from seed on our farm. Trusted seed suppliers are listed for each. We are in Zone 6A and on heavy clay soil, so if it can grow here, it can grow just about anywhere. One thing to note is that our flower field gets lots of sunshine, so I recommend everything be grown in a sunny spot.
Sulphur Cosmos
Sulphur cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) are cheery flowers that usually arrive in packets with orange and yellow flowers. Like any cosmo, they are “cut and come again” and will bloom continuously from July through frost. The plants reach about 4 feet in height and have lacy foliage that is sturdier than typical cosmos. The flowers look lovely and last quite awhile in a vase, and also press well for crafting projects. Plant with other cheerful blooms, like zinnias and sunflowers, for a bright, low-maintenance border. I start my seeds in the greenhouse about a month before the last frost and they usually germinate very quickly. The plants are very sensitive to frost, so don’t plant them out in the garden until there is no chance of low temps in the forecast. A true annual, they will instantly die back in the fall but their seeds can easily be collected and saved. Some will invariably re-sow in the spring, too.
So what kind of dye can you make with sulphur cosmos? With a bit of preparation, they can provide a range of warm tones from yellow to orange to a deep red. They are also perfect flowers for flower pounding or eco-printing, and even their leaves are color fast. You can dye with both fresh and dried blooms, though flower pounding works best with fresh.
Suppliers: Select Seeds and Hudson Valley Seeds both carry sulphur cosmos and have high quality seeds.
Coreopsis
Also known as tickseed, which I’m guessing was earned due to its tiny little black seeds. Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) is a wildflower native to North America. Coreopsis tinctoria is an annual variety that blooms in red, or yellow with striking red centers. This year, I’m also growing a double blooming yellow variety called “golden globe”. It’s a smaller, more compact plant than sulphur cosmos but also blooms prolifically throughout the summer. Flowers can be used fresh or dried- with all of these dye plants, I recommend popping off the blossoms and drying them on a screen as opposed to everlasting varieties that do well hanging upside with the stems attached. Coreopsis can be a bit fidgety to start- I often seed it twice because the germination rate seems a bit on the low side. Because the seeds are so tiny, they should be seeded on top of the soil and you must take care not to wash them away when you water. I start my coreopsis very early in the greenhouse- 8-10 weeks before the last frost.
Coreopsis is one of the most reliable dye plants. Anything with “tinctoria” in its name implies it’s been used for centuries as a dye. Coreopsis typically dyes a deep orange or, with the double yellow variety, a rich yellow. It’s perfect for bundle dyeing or single-process dyes.
Suppliers: Grand Prismatic Seed– A mission-driven company that is doing a great job.
Dyer’s Chamomile
A distant relative of the sunflower, Dyer’s Chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria) is a hardy perennial shrub with lovely silver foliage and bright yellow flowers. Once established, it’s no-fuss and very easy to maintain. Mine happens to be planted in particularly wet clay where most other plants would fail to thrive, and it seems to be very happy. The yellow flowers bloom on sturdy stems, reaching over 2 feet in height. It blooms prolifically through the summer, it’s almost hard to keep up with harvesting! I also use Dyer’s Chamomile as a dried flower, which provides a pop of yellow to dried arrangements.
Dyer’s chamomile provides a very reliable bright yellow dye. It’s perfect for layering colors, such as Japanese Indigo, to produce rich greens and teals. Yellow is a relatively easy botanical dye, and in addition to Dyer’s Chamomile, you can also use Goldenrod or Tansy to impart yellow hues but Dyer’s Chamomile proves to be the most steadfast when exposed to light.
Suppliers: Grand Prismatic Seed
Japanese Indigo
Humans have revered blue dye for centuries. It was so rare, it was used as currency. There’s a lot of history and myth wrapped up in the color blue and guess what? It’s SO EASY to grow Japanese Indigo from seed right here in New York. This is the kind of indigo used fresh, with the addition of either salt or baking soda to initiate a chemical reaction that results in blue dye. If you use it dried, it will result in a pinkish – purple dye that is still lovely but not as striking as the vivid blue we associate with indigo.
Indigo easily germinates from seed and can be transplanted after the last frost. I sow mine in the greenhouse 4-6 weeks out. The plants are tidy upright little bushes with gorgeous green foliage that bruises purple if stressed. Harvest before it goes to seed- it produces plumes of lovely light pink seed heads in mid-August. If you harvest after it goes to seed, the leaves will only produce a weak green dye. To harvest, cut the whole stalk, strip the leaves, then pop the stalk in a jar of water and it will easily sprout roots. If you do let it go to seed, the plumes can both be used in dried arrangements (holding up extremely well and looking rather unique and lovely with burgundy stems and those pretty pink pearls), OR save them and you will never have to buy seeds again!
Suppliers: Hudson Valley Seed Company
Hopi Black Dye Sunflower
Looking for a rich purple dye? The Hopi Native American people have used sunflowers for centuries to dye cotton, wool, and natural fibers in their iconic basketry.
The Hopi sunflower strain produces the richest colorfast dye, though some other sunflower varieties also produce purple colors. Be careful, because not all sunflowers produce purple colors- some are more along the mustard brown hues. Easy to grow and a stately sight, these sunflowers can grow 8 feet tall with wide sturdy heads filled with rich black seeds. Wait until the petals have dropped and the seeds are mature to harvest. You’ll have to fight the birds for them! And beware of staining your fingers when you strip out the seeds.
Suppliers: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
