Dye Garden Diary - Spring 2021
I’ve always enjoyed growing plants and gardening and being able to harvest my homegrown flowers and leaves to use in my pieces for MELO handmades is just extra extra satisfying! Since moving to Sydney in 2018, I’ve been slowly building my dye garden season by season, plant by plant. Many of you have been asking about the plants I grow to dye with, so I thought I’d start documenting my plant to pigment journey.
This season, my goal is to grow stronger and bigger crops armed with lessons from before, while trying a few new-to-me plants. I also hope to grow more flowers, because, who doesn’t like flowers! We moved to this new apartment at the beginning of September, after 2 years at our previous, so that’d be something new to figure out too!
My floral window box at our previous apartment filled with pelargoniums, sulphur cosmos and also raspberry. It received lots of direct sun in the mornings which was lovely but would also be too hot in summer. It was also on ground level, with established plantings around, which meant little critters, both good and bad abound. In contrast the new balcony is on level 23!, has almost no direct sun as it’s under shade. I’m hopeful the more stable, milder conditions would work in my favour, and fewer pests! But also a little sad that I probably won’t get much pollinators visiting.
What I’m sowing this year:
Japanese indigo (persicaria tinctoria)
This will be my 4th season growing Japanese indigo and I’m sowing about 150 seeds saved from last year’s crop. I bought seeds from All Rare Herbs the first year I moved to Sydney and have been saving seeds every year since. Every year I learn something new about growing Japanese indigo and fingers crossed this year’s crop will be my best yet!
Last year’s Japanese indigo plants in full swing and the seeds I saved for sowing this year. Japanese indigo is actually from the buckwheat family, hence the angular seeds, and also related to Vietnamese mint or Laksa leaf. Despite growing them in pots in a highly urban setting, last year’s plants were the healthiest I’ve grown. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good crop this year!
2 different varieties of indigo-bearing plants from 2 different families and a little mantis who lived on my Japanese indigo plants last summer. I fed him an aphid once!
Australian indigo (indigofera australis)
Another indigo-bearing plant that’s also an Aussie native! Excited to try this for the first time. It’s supposed to perennial too, unlike Japanese indigo. My seeds are from Southern Harvest, though they can be found on multiple sites that sell seeds.
Coreopsis (coreopsis tinctoria)
I grew coreopsis for the first time last year and absolutely love them! The blooms are dainty, pollinator-friendly and make lovely prints on fabric too, and I’ve used them on scrunchies, face masks and eye pillows. This year I’m sowing 2 varieties - Dwarf Radiata (Boondie Seeds) and Roulette (from Southern Harvest). I also had a couple of plants overwinter well, despite the onslaught of snails and slugs, which I’m really chuffed about because it means I’ll have some blooms while the new seeds grow!
An almost perfect coreopsis bloom from last season and the first of this year’s, from the overwintered plants, unfurling on a foggy morning a couple of weeks ago. They flower so profusely, and because I harvest them for dyeing, they produce even more to make up for it!
Sulphur Cosmos (cosmos sulphureus)
Like coreopsis, I also grew these last year but had a less success with them. I think it was a combination of heat stress and pests. I love their cheery blooms so hoping the ones this year will flourish!
Marigold (tagetes spp.)
A staple in my dye garden, since when I was in Singapore. I’ve long forgotten the variety I have, though I think it’s a dwarf one as they fit well in my pots. They come in a variety of colours, from lemon yellow to orange to reddish tinged blooms, but all give a sunshine yellow dye, in contrast to the orangey hues from coreopsis and sulphur cosmos.
A little ladybird butt on my sulphur cosmos and a dainty little posy of homegrown cosmos, coreopsis, snapdragons and lavender.
Dyer’s chamomile (anthemis tinctoria)
A dye plant that’s been eluding me! My plants at the previous apartment had been flourishing, though never flowered, until a week of non-stop, heavy rains caused their roots to rot and I didn’t manage to save them even after repotting. I had very bad germination when I tried seeds from All Rare Herbs in the past, so I got them from The Seed Collection this year. Let’s see if it’ll be better this time!
Miscellaneous
I’ve also sown seeds of Paper Daisies, Butterfly Pea, Borage, Snapdragon and Nasturtium because, flowers! These plants aren’t dye plants, though I sometimes add paper daisies and butterfly pea flowers to my projects. I’ve also sown some staple herbs, such as basil, coriander and shiso.
I think I’m getting better at planning and organising my gardening. I even put in the effort to make and put seed labels in this year in the cells! Ha!
Back in mid-August, I gave some seeds a bit of a head start. Partly because I had some seeds leftover from last year that I wanted to try to finish and partly to stagger my crops, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to start the rest until after our move.
A couple of weeks ago (13 Sep), I finally got my hands on some potting mix for the new apartment, and hurried to sow more seeds. I think this is my most ambitious year yet, and depending on how they germinate, I may sow another batch of the quicker growing plants in early October. Besides being a bit more organised, I got seed cells for the first time! and invested in a grow light which will hopefully help some of the plants that are a little more diva (Japanese indigo I’m looking at you!).
This year’s seeds and plant babies. On the left, in the seed cells are what I started at the new apartment, and the ones on the right, in makeshift seed cells of recycled food containers and takeaway cups, sown back in mid-August to give my garden a little head start. I’m hoping for the same floral explosion I had at the peak of last summer and continue my plant to pigment journey. It’s surprising how little space you need to grow some plants and coreopsis, marigolds and cosmos can work really well even in containers and pots. If you’re looking to start a little patch of your own, it’s still not too late to start!
The start of my Garden Blush Silk Scrunchies - a soft pink background dyed with madder root, then printed with fresh sulphur cosmos, coreopsis and marigold blooms.
If you’re thinking of trying your hands at growing some dye plants, it’s still not too late to sow! Besides getting seeds from the above sources I’ve linked, All Rare Herbs and Herb Cottage also have tubestocks, which are great time, effort and heartbreak savers!
Would you be joining me on this plant to pigment journey? I’d love to know if you do!
I’ll try my best to give updates on my garden regularly, and perhaps share my homegrown colours with you. So do follow along and see what these plants gift on fabric! If there’s something you’d like to see, or want to know how you can get started, let me know.
xx Melody
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