Gonna grow the hell out of these, then dye the hell out of stuff.

Because I love science and history (and you should, too:)

Dyers madder originated along the eastern Mediterranean, but it’s popularity as a dye plant caused it to spread. It’s the only plant based true red, but it can do pinks, oranges and yellows as well. A number of popular paint colours were made with madder through the ages.

Cinnamon coreopsis is a super pretty flower native to North America. It makes, you guessed it, cinnamon colour. A tea of the roots is supposed to be good for diarrhea, too.

Chinese woad has a long history across asia, africa and europe. It played a big part in ancient chinese medicine, and its medicinal properties are still being studied and used today. It’s a source of indigo dye and one of the few plant-based sources of true blue. The celts and germanic people used it to paint their skin, dye clothes, and colour tattoos. The blue of the scottish flag is due to the popularity of the colour.

Indigo replaced woad in popularity because it’s much easier to extract colour from the raw plant, with less processing for more blue. It is not edible.

Breadseed poppies, also known as opium poppies, are not great for dyeing.

Elana’s Rojo Amaranth was revived as part of an effort to bring back species that were lost to war and colonialism in central america. It was once a sacred plant, representing life, death and renewel, with bright red flowers and burgundy veined leaves. The Spanish forbid its cultivation when they replaced the Aztec’s cool human sacrifice festivals with boring Christmas celebrations.

Rembert Dodoens wrote of Gypsywort in his Niewwe Herball, A Historie of Plantes in the 1500’s: “…: in Brabant water Andoren, and of some Egyptenaers cruyt, that is to say, the Egyptians herbe, bycause of the Rogues and runnegates which call themselves Egyptians, do colour themselves blacke with this herbe.”

Called 'gypsywort because of the belief that either romani used it to stain their skin, or people were staining their skin to look like romani, or the romani were trying to look more like Egyptians. Either way, a popular dye plant.

I’ll post an update (and even more history) when these babies are rooted and shooted.