The search for superior plant dyes accounted for part of the lust for new trade routes in the 15th and 16th centuries.  When settlers arrived in the new world, they brought with them plants that they knew how to use as dyestuffs.  The lore of dyeing was richly varied -- each country discovering through experimentation new plant materials that could be used in the dye vat.

Brazilwood (Haematoxylum brasiletto and Caesalpinia brasiliensis) was so desirable for the rare bright red color that it could produce that the discovery of its abundance in the lower part of South America led to the naming of the country Brazil.  This is the world's only country named for a plant.

Indigo dye is obtained through the fermentation of the leaves of Indigofera tinctoria. The paste which settles to the bottom of the fermentation bath is formed into cakes, then finely ground into powder, which is used in the dyer's vat.  Even to this day indigo is renown for its true blue dyeing properties.  Only Dyer's woad (Isatis tinctoria) comes close to achieving the blue of indigo.

Many common dyer's plants can be found in the garden.  The leaves of Weld, which is sometimes called Dyer's Mignonette, (Reseda luteola) produce a range of brilliant yellows. The aerial parts of Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) yield a bright green.  The stems of Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica) impart a bluish-brown color.

The common colors green, yellow and brown are achievable in many different shades from the leaves, bark and roots of innumerable plants.  Nearly every plant part has been tried in the dyer's quest for color -- fruits, nuts, rind, skins, hulls, buds, blossoms, petals, stigmas, aril, seeds, gallnuts, inner bark, root bark, stems, twigs, wood chips, oil, juice, sap, milk, needles, rhizomes, . . . even the whole plant in some recipes.

Many plants impart different colors when used with different fabrics or different mordants.  Ladies' bedstraw (Galium verum) for example has been used for dull red, red, light orange-red, purple-red and bluish green.

Natural dyes and the craft of dyeing quickly fell out of favor in the mid 19th century when the industry discovered the brilliant new colors that could be obtained with their new techniques.  A brief revival in natural dyeing flourished in the 1950's only to abate again shortly afterwards.  Today the art of dyeing and the knowledge of the plant materials used in the dye pot are rapidly fading.

Enjoy these wonderful resources that celebrate the soft beauty of subtle colors on natural fibers.