Dye plant seeds ‘South’

• 5 packets of organic dye plant seeds
• Grown by Botanika
• With sowing and growing user guide
• Color harmony: The rose (amaranth), salmon (madder) and the orange (cosmos) evoke the stifling intoxication of the ‘South’ contoured into a cooling unit by the lemon (weld) and purple (mallow).

Madder / rubia tinctorum /
The ‘lord of dye plants’ is a perennial plant. The dye bath yields very fast pink and brick red shades. Roots for dyeing grow large enough to be worth uprooting after 3-4 years. The French dyers waited 3 years while Persians traditionally waited 7 years for the development of the root culture that yields the most intense crimson hue. Madder is one of the most complex dye plants with over 20 compounds including alizarin, pseudo purpurine and rubiadin. Authenticated archaeological excavations of ancient graves have revealed that Tutankhamen’s red belt and textiles were also dyed with madder. ‘Turkey red’ is not ‘one among’ the hardest but, without a doubt is definitely the most comprehensive dye process along twenty different levels; – in addition to madder – blood, oil and rancid fat, wood ash, cow and sheep dung, dog excrement and the gastric liquids of animals.

Weld / reseda luteola /
‘Europe’s Methuselah’ grows a rosette of leaves in the first year, over-winters, partially dies-back and usually flowers in its second year. The most colourfast shades of yellow can be dyed using the flowering stem of weld. Weld is very efficient in overdyeing emerald, apple, oil, hazel, cinnamon, tobacco and golden bronze shades. It is the oldest known dye plant on the continent. Frozen seeds frozen under a glacier in the Alps were uncovered during Neolithic and Bronze Age excavations; – among the finds of rudimentary agricultural communities with stilt houses. The popular dye of the continent was used in oil painting as well. The other great of the ‘Rembrandt Golden Age’ Jan Vermeer van Delft used weld and indigo to paint the background of his outstanding masterpiece of realistic portrait paintings, ‘Girl with pearl earrings’.

Mallow / malva sylvestris subsp. mauritania /
The ‘elixir of garden’ is a perennial but is best treated as an annual cleistogamic in growing. It flowers from June late into the season; regular picking of the blossoms promotes further flowering. Mallow self-seeds but is worth re-seeding every year, because the plants are often attacked by rust. Snails and other insects lace its leaves. Due to the anthocyanin content of the flowers we can create purple patterns with eco-printing but using the whole plant in traditional immersion dyeing will yield creamy yellows. It is not one of the fastest colours but is a vibrant addition to the dye garden and is loved by pollinators. The turquoise – green herbal tea made with the flowers is traditionally used as a cough suppressant and expectorant.

Sulphur cosmos / cosmos sulphureus /
The ‘dye garden’s mascot’ is an annual plant. It thrives in warmth and light, develops quickly, requires moderate watering and soil that is medium-rich in nutrients. Cosmos can grow up to a meter tall so it’s best to plant it in a wind-shielded spot. The blossoms flower from midsummer late into the season, picking the blossoms promotes further flowering. The vibrant cosmos petals yield un unpaired lively orange colour – but due to the pH-sensitivity of the dye and alkaline dye bath will bring redder tones to the forefront. This cosmos variety is particularly popular in Korea and Japan where it is frequent in roadside plantations thanks to an initiative by famous botanist Woo Jang-choon in the last century.

Hopi Red Dye amaranth / amaranthus cruentus x powellii /
The ‘feast of the Indians’ is an annual amaranthacea. The flowering plant is self-seeding and drops thousands of tiny seeds which will grow into an amaranth forest the next year. The flowering blossoms, leaves and stems yield soft brown with traditional immersion dyeing, but reveal rose hues on low-heat or using solar dyeing. Hopi Indians traditionally coloured their cornbread using the hanging flower clusters. The ripe seeds which are high in fibre and the young leaves are both edible, while the seedlings can be consumed as microgreens.