Since time out of mind, we humans have loved colors. And for most of those eons, we have been creating clothing and useful items with the pigmentation that plants have to offer. A few months ago, I met Oregon nursery owner, Meredith Reifschneider. When I visited her country property, I discovered she had a whole greenhouse devoted to plants used for dyeing. Where I live, there’s a strong community of weavers and fiber artists. Many of them incorporate natural coloring. So, I wanted to know more.
Meredith explained that while there are many candidates for dyeing, some will do better living in the greenhouse rather than out in the garden. She raises her dye plants from seed indoors under lights (no bottom heat) in a room where the ambient temperature is between 45 and 53 degrees. After germination, she moves them to the greenhouse with at least the same warmth and eventually pots them up to gallon containers, always with consistent moisture.
“Growing your own dye plants can give you a relationship that is really special,” Meredith told me. “Plants do have agency, but they need you to help them thrive. It’s about influencing them with our care rather than trying to control everything.”
I asked her to suggest three easy-to-grow plants which can be used in art and textile work. “All of these,” Meredith assured me, “are beginner-friendly.”
Persicaria tinctoria – Japanese indigo is a cut-and-come again plant. Meredith explained, “The enzyme for the dye is strongest just as they begin to flower.” So she harvests this short-lived perennial four times a year, cutting back to the second node on the stem above the soil. “You can also replant the stems,” she said. All that growing and collecting requires nutritional support with fish fertilizer, which she supplies once a week.
Rubia tinctorum – On the other hand, red madder takes a lot of time until harvest because it’s the roots that provide the color. Meredith grows it in 1- to 2-gallon pots and harvests the roots in the second year. It’s a rangy plant that wouldn’t win any beauty contests, but the deep red dye the roots produce is invaluable.
Scabiosa atropurpurea ‘Black Knight’ – This annual pincushion flower is perfectly happy in the garden, but, Meredith observed, “It seems to like the humidity in the greenhouse.” So that’s where she grows it, harvesting the dark almost black flower heads on 3-foot leggy stems throughout the season to be used fresh or dried in dyeing projects. “The more you cut,” she said, “the more you get.”