Dye Garden Plant List

Dye Garden Plant List
Plant	Botanical Name	Type	Height	Flower	Bloom Time	Plant Part	Mordant	Dye Color on Wool
Agrimony	Agrimonia eupatoria	perennial	3-4 ft.	yellow	July/August	leaves and stems	alum	brassy yellow
Alkanet	Anchusa offinicinalis	biennial	1-3 ft.	blue	mid-summer	roots		red dye to foods
Bloodroot	Sanguinaria canadensis	perennial	6-14 in.	white	spring	roots	none	orange
						roots	alum	rust
						roots	tin	reddish pink
Bronze Fennel	Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpurascens'	annual	3-6 ft.	yellow	summer	whole plant	alum	clear yellow
Black-eyed Susan	Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldstrum'	perennial	2-3 ft.	gold	summer	leaves and stems	alum	gold and dull orange
						flower heads	alum	olive green
Coreopsis	Coreopsis grandiflora	perennial	1-2 ft.	yellow daisy	early summer	flower and stalk	alum	yellow
							copper	brown
Dahlia	Dahlia spp.	tender per.	10in. - 5 ft.	all but blues	summer to frost	flowers	alum	yellow to orange
Dyer's Broom	Genesta tinctoria	shrub	2-3 ft.	yellow	June	all parts	alum	yellow
Dyer's Chamomile	Anthemis tinctoria	perennial	2 ft.	yellow daisy	mid summer	flower	alum	yellow
(Golden Marguerite)						flower	tin, chrome	gold, orange
						leaves	alum	greens
Dyer's Coreopsis	Coreopsis tinctoria	annual	1-2 ft.	gold, maroon, bi-color	mid summer	flowers, whole plant	alum	gold, orange, rusty red
Dyer's Woad	Isatus tinctoria	biennial	1ft.	yellow	spring	leaves		blue
Dyer's Woodruff	Asperula tinctoria	perennial	1ft.	white	early summer	leaves	alum	reds
Elecampane	Inula helenium	perennial	4-6 ft.	yellow	summer	roots	?	Scottish tartan blues, purple
Goldenrod	Solidago spp.	perennial	up to 5 ft.	gold	late summer	flower and stalk	alum	bright yellows, golds
							chrome	brown
Heather	Calluna vulgaris	shrublet	12-18 in.	pinkish purple	mid summer	leaves& flower buds	alum	golden - orange
Hollyhock	Alcea rosea	perennial	4-8 ft.	dark rose, red, black	summer	light colored flowers	alum	yellow, gold, brown
						dark colored flowers	alum	lilac, purple,mauve
Indigo	Indigofera tinctoria	shrub	3 ft.	violet	summer	leaves		indigo blue
Lady's Bedstraw	Galium verum	perennial	2-3 ft.	yellow	early summer	roots	alum	red, brick, coral
						flower	alum	yellow, dull gold
Lady's Mantle	Alchemilla vulgaris	perennial	10- 18 in.	yellow	early summer			yellow
Madder	Rubia tinctoria	perennial	2ft.	pale little flowers		roots	alum	shades of red
Marigold	Tageles erecta, t. patula	annual	12in.- 3 ft.	yellow, orange	summer to frost	flowers	alum	yellow, gold, orange
Purple Perilla	Perilla fructescens	annual	3 ft.	bronze leaves		leaves		red to foods
Pot Marigold	Calendula officinalia	annual	12 in -3 ft.	orange/ yellow	summer to frost	flowers		yellow to foods
Purple Basil	Ocimum basilicum purpurescens	annual	2 ft.	pink	summer	tops of plants	alum	dark browns
Rose Mallow	Hibiscus moscheutos 'Lord Baltimore'	perennial	3-6 ft.	reds, rosy reds	summer	flowers	alum	browns, black
Russian Sage	Perovskia atriplicifolia	subshrub	3-4 ft.	blues	mid/late summer	flowers		blue
Saffron	Crocus sativus	bulb	8 in.	white	fall	stigmas		yellow dye for food
Scotch Broom	Cytisus scoparius	Shrub	6 ft.	yellow	late spring	flower/green stems	alum	yellows, yellow-green
Sunflower	Helianthus annuus	annual	4-6 ft.	gold	summer/fall	flower heads	alum	yellow/green
Tansy	Tanacetum vulgare	perennial	3+ ft	gold	summer	flower and stalk	alum	yellow/,gold, olive green
Weld	Reseda luteola	biennial	2-4 ft.	yellowish	late spring	flower and stalk	alum	yellow
						flower and stalk	copper	greenish yellow
Yarrow	Achillea millefollium	perennial	2-3 ft.	yellow	early summer	flower and stalk	alum	yellow
Yellow Comos	Cosmos sulphureus	annual	1-3 ft.	yellow	summer	flower and stalk	alum	orange
Yellow Root	Xanthorrhiza simplicissima	perennial	2 ft.			roots and stalk		yellow
Zinnia	Zinnia elegans	annual	1-3 ft.	red, orange pink	summer to frost	flowers	alum	beige, tan

Researched and compiled by Riekie Sluder, The New England Unit of The Herb Society of America. Updated 4/06