Garden Dye Plants 2023

Buddleia

Lovely Buddliea that attracts to butterflies and gives me a beautiful citrus green dye colour on wool fibres.

Harvesting the flowers and leaves.

Buddleia and red onion skin produces a pretty citrus green – works beautifully with yellow onion skin and pink cochineal (left) and yellow onion skin and madder (right)

Coreopsis

Coreopsis yellow – pretty vibrant little flowers that just flower and flower.

I have harvested the flowers three times during the summer and have left some flowers to self-seed next year.

Plant materials drying in paper bags along the kitchen ceiling beam.

I am collecting avocado skins and stones, onion skins, Buddleia and Coreopsis to make dyes and paints to experiment with this autumn and winter.

Weld is in the ground and should be ready to harvest next summer. Madder seeds will go in next spring after the last frosts.

I will make a blue from indigo to blend with yellow to give me the full range of colours to dye fibres and fabrics with and make a set of natural paints for batik designs on silk Nuno felt.

Having lots of fun!