Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Common Plants for Natural Dyes

I'm just going to list some of the most common plants which can and are used in Natural Dyes. I've not tried all of them but just about anything is usable.

Plants for Natural Dyes:

  • Cutch, Catechu
  • Common Yarrow
  • Hollyhocks
  • Dyer's Alkanet
  • Onions - Red, Yellow or Brown - just the outer skin is used
  • Alder
  • Dyer's chamomile
  • Barberry
  • Blackberry
  • Cranberry
  • Blue Berry
  • Birch
  • Annatto Seeds - anywhere from orange to brown depending on the mordant you use and when
  • Brazilwood - a really nice red to browns
  • Pot Marigold
  • Heather
  • Safflower - this likewise gives a color from yellows to reds
  • Fustic, Dyer's Mulberry (wood chips are used) yellows to greens
  • Coreopsis, Tickseed
  • Dyer's coreopsis
  • Yellow cosmos
  • Hawthorn
  • Turmeric (roots are used)
  • Dahlia
  • Wild/Domestic carrot, Queen Anne's lace
  • Eucalyptus
  • Ash
  • Lady's bedstraw, Yellow bedstraw
  • Dyer's greenweed, Woadwaxen
  • Logwood 9 wood chips, graules, or powder)
  • Ivy (leaves and berries)
  • Hardy hibiscus, Rose mallow (flowers only)
  • Saint-John's-Wort
  • Indigo
  • Woad, Dyer's woard
  • Henna
  • Osage orange, Bois d'arc (wood chips, shavings or extract)
  • Mahonia
  • Apple (leaves, bark)
  • Bog myrtle, Sweet gale
  • Daffodil (flowers)
  • Japanese indigo, Dyer's knotweed
  • Cherry, Plum, Peach, Almond, Apricot (leaves and bark)
  • Blackthorn
  • Bracken, Brake
  • Sanderswood, Saunderswood (powder or wood chips)
  • Pomegranate
  • Pear (leaves and bark)
  • Oak (oak galls good source of Tannin)
  • Weld, Dyer's rocket
  • Buckthorn
  • Rhubarb
  • Staghorn sumac
  • Madder
  • Blood root
  • Rudbeckia, Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan
  • Dock, Sorrel, Curled dock
  • Willow (leafy stems and bark)
  • Elder, Elderberry
  • Goldenrod
  • Rowan, Mountain Ash
  • Comfrey
  • French marigold, African marigold
  • Tansy
  • Dandelion (flowers and leaves) shades of yellows and greens
  • Elm (bark and leaves)
  • Nettle (plant tops)
  • Poison Sumac or Green Moss from trees will give you a Mauve color

So when you have all those dandelions in your lawn - use them for dyes - using both the leaves and flowers gives you some wonderful lime greenish colors!

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