Dye Plants for Eco Printing and Eco Dyeing

Introductory notes:

The search for hidden colours, forms and textures is for me the lure of eco dyeing and eco printing, and a form of art. Eco dyeing and eco printing are essentially direct contact printing methods, drawing out pigments from plants to make interesting and often surprising marks on cellulose (cotton, linen) and protein (silk, wool) fibres, and not necessarily to dye yardage or yarns evenly. While traditional dye practices provide indispensable information and guidance for eco printing, not every colour available in a plant reveals itself in a traditional immersion dye pot.  Eco printing processes aim to use traditional dye plants in both old and new ways and to try plants not well known as dye sources.  Art, like science, reveals the invisible!

This page provides an “in-progress” alphabetical list of plants that I use successfully to eco print textiles and paper as described in my blog posts. The plants are garden-grown or foraged locally (in the Ottawa, Ontario area), with an emphasis on native plants for all North America, especially the north-east and that can also be grown in other parts of the world. I have given the common names in English and French, plus the scientific (Latin) names, noting briefly colours most often obtained in eco prints with alum mordant.

The page is organized by common plant name in English and features my photos of the plants. Currently, the list starts with ‘Alder’ and ends with ‘Walnut’, so it is a long scroll for you, dear Reader…

The textiles and papers pictured here were mostly pre-mordanted with alum acetate or potassium aluminum suphate, and sometimes co-mordanted or post-mordanted with iron (liquor or bits). The fibres printed were silk, wool, cotton and linen, and cotton rag watercolour paper, as noted.

Eco printing results vary according to many conditions – plant season, plant part used, processing time, water quality, pH level, mordant, processing method, fibre type (protein, cellulose or synthetic), etc.

Future pages (of which this one is parent) will be devoted in-depth to related topics: eco print processes, eco dye colours, mordants and gardens for eco dyes. In my definition (so far!) ‘eco dyes’ refer to the colours the plant can be induced to surrender, and ‘eco prints’ to the forms these dyes take on the substrate. 

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A FEW DYE GARDEN VIEWS

My new and much smaller garden, my “kale yard”, started in the summer of 2014 after our downsizing-move in 2013. I am developing a garden of native plants with some favourite non-native plant introductions thrown in.

Above is one view of the front garden, with ‘Lacinato‘ kale (‘Dinosaur‘ kale, black kale), fronted by native and pollinator plants: great blue lobelia (Lobelia syphilitica), beside Sedum spectabilis ‘Autumn Joy’ and assorted hostas, with native species Monarda didyma and a yellow goldenrod in the background. In the back yard, shown in part below, I am developing a woodland feel with principally native shrubs and perennials: e.g.: big bluestem grass, bloodroot, cedar, clematis, goat’s beard, iris, rhubarb, serviceberry, Solomon’s seal, spiderwort, smokebush and sumac. With iron bedstead and no grass.

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PLANTS FOR ECO PRINTS AND ECO DYES

A photo of the plant and of sample eco prints accompany each entry on the list.

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ALDER (Alnus incana)

Native

French: Aulne; bois a rames.

DYE COLOURS: Orange-brown prints from the leaves.
PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Alder leaf on watercolour paper:

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APPLE (Malus domestica)

Native species.

French: Pommier

DYE COLOURS: Teal blue-green from pink blossoms; yellow-green from leaves.

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Hybrid ‘Royalty’ crabapple leaves and blossoms on paper.

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Aronia/CHOKEBERRY  (Aronia melanocarpa)
Native.
French: Aronie noire, gueules noires.
DYE COLOURS: Blue-purple  from berries. Plant image coming when the snow disappears!

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Aronia berries (blue) on silk with Acer palmatum and Prunus cistena leaves. A rusty saw-tooth blade gave the iron print:

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FALSE (WILD) INDIGO, RATTLEBUSH (Baptisia australis)
Native.
French:
Colours: DYE COLOURS: Fluorescent yellow eco print from leaves on silk.
PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Baptisia australis leaves hold a fluorescent yellow pigment. With the baptisia (below) is red from Coreopsis verticillata and blue from aronia berries (see above).

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BASIL/Purple basil. (Ocimum basilicum var. purpurescens)

French: Basilique

DYE COLOURS: Purple-blue prints on cellulose and protein fibres

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Purple basil with tagetes marigold (yellow) and eucalyptus (peachy-orange) on silk. Holes and burns come from microwaving bay leaves too long…

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BIRCH(Betula papyrifera.)
Native. Paper birch, white birch

French: Bouleau blanc

DYE COLOURS: Leaves, inner and outer bark, catkins traditionally yield dye-pot colour; TBD

PLANT:
ECO PRINT:

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BLACKBERRY. (Rubus fruticosus).

Native species.

French: Ronce (Image, Wikipedia)

DYE COLOURS:Berries give blue-purple shades, known to be fugitive; leaves and stems give dark greens for eco prints; dark greys are reported for a traditional immersion dye pot.

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Fall blackberry leaf on paper (lower left: under leaf; lower right, top side) 

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BLACK-EYED SUSAN, BROWN-EYED SUSAN. (Rudbeckia hirta)

Native.

French: Marguerite jaune; obéliscaire

DYE COLOURS:Yellows from flowers, greens from leaves and stalks

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Black-eyed susan:

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BLOODROOT (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Native
French: Sang dragon; sanguinaire du Canada
Dye plant used by First Nations

DYE COLOURS: Intense orange-red from the juicy roots on protein or cellulose fibres.

PLANT:

PLANT: Red roots

ECO PRINT: Bloodroot on silk jersey; grated red root with yellow-green dogwood (Cornus sericea), baptisia, geranium and cotinus leaves. Iron darks.

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BORAGE  (Borago officinalis)
French: Bourrache officinale

DYE COLOURS: Flowers give blue dyes, especially when frozen.

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Borage:

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POT MARIGOLD , MARY BUDS, MARY’S GOLD (Calendula officinalis).

French:

DYE COLOURS: Yellow-orange dyes from flowers.

PLANT: A new variety here, not the old fashioned calendula above.

ECO PRINT: Pot marigold

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CARROT (Daucus carota)

French: Carotte

DYE COLOURS: Eco prints greeny yellow.

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Carrot (with red cabbage) Yellow green from tops on paper, left. With red cabbage (blues and purples), right. Reported to be fugitive colours. Overlay the two for green.

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CATALPA(Catalpa speciosa)
Native. French:

DYE COLOURS: Catalpa pods are tannin-rich and give substantive browns

PLANT:

 

ECO PRINT: Pods (tannin-rich) give deep brown lasting shades on wool. Catalpa pods print dark brown on wool (here with orange prints of Eucalyptus globulus)

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CATMINT (Nepeta cataria)
French: Herbe à chats

DYE COLOURS: Blue flowers give teal blue-green.

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Whole catmint plant, print on paper: like many blue blossoms, it will give a teal colour with alum:

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CHOKECHERRY (Prunus virginiana).
‘Shubert’ and ‘Canada Red’ are varieties with red leaves.
Native.
French: Cerisier a grappes.

DYE COLOURS: Deep greens and near-blacks; also yellowish-brown from leaves; purple-blue from the black berries

PLANT (Red leaves, black berries):

ECO PRINT: Leaves print deep greens, greys and near-blacks, depending on season and substrate; yellows, too.

Fall leaves, green-black and yellow prints on paper, lasting shades.

ECO PRINT: Late summer leaves, green print on paper with other leaves:

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COREOPSIS ( C. lanceolata, C. tinctoria, C.verticillata)
Native.
French:

DYE COLOURS: Reds, oranges and deep yellow prints from blooms; C. verticillata: whole plant gives vivid scarlet red

PLANT:
C. lanceolata:

C. verticillata ‘Zagreb’ – threadleaf coreopsis: you can see why!

ECO PRINT: C. verticillata, print on linen with blue-green sumac: A mighty red!

ECO PRINT: C. verticillata with sumac, red apple slices and purple sandcherry twigs and leaves on silk:

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CREEPING BELLFLOWER (Campanula rapunculoides)

French: Campanule raiponcette

DYE COLOURS: A lovely lavender blue print.

PLANT: Not a native, and an invasive weed for some gardeners, but a keeper in my garden.

ECO PRINT: Creeping bellflower:

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DOGWOOD spp. (Cornus alternifolia, C. canadensis, C. sericea, C. stolonofera and others)
Native. French: Cornouiller spp.

DYE COLOURS: Yellows and greens from leaves; reds and browns from twig bark.

PLANT: Oval, pointed and ribbed leaves on Cornus alternifolia (Pagoda dogwood). Red twigs on Cornus sericea.

ECO PRINT: Yellows
(Reds here are from grated bloodroot)




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DAHLIA.

Native.
French: 
DYE COLOURS:
PLANT:
ECO PRINT:

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DANDELION (Taraxacum officinale)
French: Dent-de-lion (“Lion’s Tooth”), Pis en lit (“Wet The Bed”)

I love this “green immigrant” – and eco dye garden beneficial
PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Dandelion on paper, below. With iron, you get a lovely olive green.

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DYER’S BROOM (Genista tinctoria).
Green immigrant. It is a traditional dye plant for yellow, a Euro intro.

Mine died last year…RIP.

Try again this year!

PLANT:
ECO PRINT:

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ELDER (Sambucus nigra, S. canadensis)
Native
French: Sureau blanc; sureau du Canada
Black berries give purple-blues reported as ‘fugitive’; leaves give yellow-green prints.

ECO PRINT: Elder leaves on silk with coreopsis verticillata; dark marks from iron print.
Iron extends the print life.

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EUCALYPTUS spp.

Exotic Florist Pet

I save branches that come in bouquets that Shlomo brings for Shabbat dinner.

Image shows round-leaved E. globulus “Baby Blue” and a seeded eucalyptus, name unknown to me.

DYE COLOURS:  Red to orange to yellow and brown with chartreuse thrown in

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: E.globulus on old wool ski socks: reds and green-yellows from the same plant!
Sweat as mordant gave the reds, maybe…same alum, same leaves, same wool!

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FERN, OSTRICH (Mateuccia struthiopteris)

Native

French: Fougère; ptérétide noduleuse.
DYE COLOURS: Greens, green-yellows

I am guessing this is ostrich fern. It came with the new garden!

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Fern prints on paper: 2% iron water to shift the yellow greens to olive greens plus act as a mordant.

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FIG (Ficus carica)

Exotic Potted Pet (Green Immigrant)

DYE COLOURS: Yellow-green eco prints sometimes reported as fugitive

(Aside: Interesting that the first (human) creative handwork reported in the Bible, post-Paradise, was a textile art:  Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves to make clothing. The colours probably stained skin, too…)

PLANT:

ZsECO PRINT:

I do not have a plant photo handy yet, or an eco print, so here meantime is a fig leaf I printed with acrylics:

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GERANIUM/Cranesbill (Geranium maculatum)

Nativc
G. macrorrhizum, G. pratense, etc are perennial geranium hybrids and cultivars.  (The red ones in pots are pelargoniums.)

DYE COLOURS: Green and yellow-green eco prints from leaves and pinks and purples from pink blooms.

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Geranium winter leaf print on paper: the yellow-green print (upper left) shifted to dark greys with an iron dip, post printing . (I dug the near-evergreen leaves from under the January snow).

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GOLDEN MARGUERITE; Dyer’s Marguerite (Anthemis tinctoria)

Introduced.

French:

DYE COLOURS: Golden yellow from flowers; chartreuse greens from leaves etc

PLANT

__________________________________________________________________________________GOLDENROD (Solidago spp.)

Native. (There are many, kinds of goldenrod, and I am collecting especially those that attract pollinators)

French: Verge d’or.  

DYE COLOURS: Flowers give yellow dyes and eco prints; leaves give green prints.

PLANT
S.nutallii:

ECO PRINT: S. canadensis on paper:

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GRAPE (Vitis riparia)
Native. Riverbank grape.
French: Raisin sauvage.

DYE COLOURS: Green-yellow from leaves; purple-blue from fruits.

PLANT:
ECO PRINT:

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HYPERICUM spp.

Introduced.

French:

DYE COLOURS

Polychromatic dye (i.e., more than one colour, depending on the extraction process)

PLANT

 

 

Smooshed hypericum petals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hypericum plant in alcohol to give red:

 

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HYDRANGEA

Native species: Oakleaf hydrangea

French:
DYE COLOURS: Yellows from leaves; blooms, yellow from white “Annabelle”

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Hydrangea leaves on paper: yellow-greens in spring with red cabbage (blues, purples)

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IRIS  sp.

Native (?)
I. florentina; I. germanica; I. hybrida; I. siberica; I. versicolor.

Well adapted pioneer plants, with some irises thought to be native. (The Esteemed Lorraine Johnson says I. tenax is native) Quebec’s provincial emblem, the Fleur de Lis, is the Iris versicolor, native or not. Voilà, mes amis!

DYE COLOURS: A range of yellows, blues and greens; blue iris petal juice was traditionally used in the Renaissance painter’s palette for greens (See my main blog post for details): tall bearded iris ( a heritage variety):

PLANT: Iris hybrida, tall bearded iris ( a heritage variety):

Siberian iris:

ECO PRINT: Iris petals on paper; green cotton thread dyed with iris petal juice

ECO PRINT: Iris blooms on silk (later embroidered with green thread dyed with iris):

JAPANESE INDIGO (Persicaria tinctoria). (PS The BAD GUY is Japanese knotweed- Fallopia japonica – and an invasive species here in Canada)

DYE COLOURS: A blue-green vat dye; not your Usual Eco Dye Suspect.
(See my main blog posts for How To info on dyeing with Japanse indigo.)

PLANT: Home grown plants from donated  seeds.

VAT DYE: Japanese indigo dye on silk velvet: with Japanese maple, cotinus leaves, aronia berries and tansy buttons; the lucious turquoise is the dye colour.

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JAPANESE MAPLE (Acer palmatum).
French:

DYE COLOURS: Many colours of print are possible from this plant, depending on the season, the substrate, the mordant, co-prints and the colour of the leaves: e.g.: blues, greens, yellows, purples and even pinks. This Japanese maple in The Kaleyard (my front garden) is ‘Bloodgood’

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Fall Japanese maple leaves: blues, purples and greens on paper with sweet gum and smokebush:

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LILAC (Syringa spp.)

Not native but a beloved and well adapated Euro pioneer introduction.
French: Lilas

DYE COLOURS: Pink and blue lilac flowers often print teal blue-greens; lilac leaves print yellows and greens.

(Aside: ‘Prestonia’ lilacs now abound in Ottawa gardens; they are a hardy strain developed  by Isabella Preston at the Central Experimental Farm research station in Ottawa. Isabella did not get the credit from her male colleagues  for a long while…)

PLANT:  You can almost smell these lovelies 🙂

ECO PRINT: Lilac leaves and blossoms on paper:

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MAPLE (Acer saccharum- sugar maple; A. saccharinum- silver maple)
Native.

French: Erable

DYE COLOURS: Prints yellowish-green alone but deep charcoal with iron on paper, cotton and silk.

Aside: The Canadian sugar maple is on our flag.

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: a silver maple leaf on a cotton tee-shirt, with rose leaves, iron-dipped:

ECO PRINT: Acer saccharinum (silver maple) with rusted iron on paper, linen and cotton:

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OAK  (Quercus spp. )

Native.
French: Chêne.

DYE COLOURS: Rich yellow-tan brown

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Oak leaf on paper with chokecherry

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PANSY (Viola spp.)
French: Pensée.

Johnny Jump Up (pictured) is violette pensée in French

DYE COLOURS: Blue eco prints, especially from frozen petals

PLANT

ECO PRINT: Pansy. Pink and purple (with yellow from tagetes) on vintage linen; prints darker and exudes more juice after freezing the petals; ditto for most fleshy blue petals.

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PURPLE (RED) CABBAGE including KALE (Brassica spp.)
French: Choux

DYE COLOURS: Colours pH dependent; widely reported as fugitive. Towards magentas and purples in a more acid environment: lower than pH 7; towards blues and greens in a more alkaline environment: higher than pH7. Measured by pH strips or pH meter.

PLANT (in an immersion dye pot with an eco-bundle splashed with vinegar)

ECO PRINT: Purple cabbage (blues) with C. verticillata (reds, oranges) on paper. Fade alert: the colours of the brassica family are not permanent and cannot be made so. But the have lasted a few years on the papers shown below:

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PURPLE SANDCHERRY (Prunus cistena)

Native spp.  Also P. nigra, P. pumila, P. serotina, P.virginiana.

French: Prunier, sauvage
DYE COLOURS: Ecoprints good dark greens and green-blues, especially on protein fibres.

PLANT

ECO PRINT: Purple sandcherry leaves (L) with red coreopsis (R) on wool felt:

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RED AMARANTH (Amaranthus spp.).
Native. (The famous Hopi red dye comes from one variety – not the one I can grow)

French:

DYE COLOURS: Stains more that it dyes or prints on vintage linen. Under investigation by your author.

PLANT

ECO PRINT: Red amaranth on vintage linen:

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SMOKEBUSH (Cotinus obovatus)
Native.
Cotinus coggygria (purple smokebush) is the Euro cotinus with deep red leaves.
French:

DYE COLOURS: Amazing colours from cotinus: orange, blue, green, yellow, brown, purple…depending. But some of them fade, especially the blues on linen and cotton (cellulose fibres). Older prints tend to brown out.

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Purple smokebush.  Fall leaves on paper

ECO PRINT: Purple smokebush autumn-coloured leaves on gold-foiled silk:

 

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ROSE (Rosa spp. )
Native species: R. blanda, R. carolina, R. rugosa, R. virginiana, etc

French: Rose 

DYE COLOURS: Leaves print green; olive or blue-black with iron .  ‘

PLANT: ‘Bonica‘, a Z4 hardy hybrid.

ECO PRINT: Rosa rugosa on cotton:

ECO PRINT: Green Rosa rugosa leaves on paper with blue from chokeceherry fruit:

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SAFFLOWER. (Carthamus tinctorius)
French: Carthame.

DYE COLOURS: Dried petals ecoprint yellow  on silk; other dye colours obtained using a different immersion and pH manipulation processes. See below.

Dried petals are a saffron substitute (“American saffron”) obtained in the spice section of a Mid East grocery store.) Seeds are widely used for bird seed and are said to deter squirrels.

PLANT

IMMERSION DYE: Coral pinks on cotton and silk in the dye pot:

Safflower is a special case. The pink, yellow and orange dyes come from the same petals as a result of an interesting and challenging process (See my main blog for more info on the process)

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SASKATOONBERRY (Amelanchier alnifolia)
Native
French: Bois de flèche; Saskatons, poire

DYE COLOURS: Berries print blue. Used by some First Nations to dye baskets and arrows.

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Saskatoonberries in the freezer for stronger purple-blue prints

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SERVICEBERRY(Amelanchier arborea; A. laevis; A. canadensis )
Native.


French: Amelanchier du Canada

DYE COLOURS: Fall leaves (multicoloured) print shades of brown, tan and reddish brown with yellow on paper. I could not bear to eco print the tasty berries…just shared them with the birds right off the bush.

PLANT: 

PLANT: Serviceberry flowers

ECO PRINT: Red and brown serviceberry leaves (winter, frozen) eco print on paper:

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STRAWBERRY (Fragaria virginiana)
Native species. Wild strawberry.
French: Fraisier des champs. Bear food!

DYE COLOURS: Pink prints, fugitive; leaves, a good yellow-green print on paper

PLANT:

ECO PRINT: Strawberry

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STAGHORN SUMAC (Rhus typhina) 
Native.
French: Vinaigrier; sumac vinaigrier.

DYE COLOURS: Green and yellow green eco prints from leaves; teal-blue  or charcoal grey or black with iron. Pinks and light reds from the berries

Sumac is a traditional dye plant, providing light yellow in the dye pot; also a source of tannin for mordanting cellulose fibres. 

PLANT: R. typhina

PLANT: Sumac berries

ECO PRINT: Sumac on paper:

ECO PRINT: Dried sumac berries on paper:

 

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SWEET GUM (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Native.
French:

DYE COLOURS:  Ecoprinted fall sweet gum leaves: greens, yellows, purples, browns, even pinks
PLANT (shown with eucalyptus):

ECO PRINT: Sweet gum leaves on paper with Japanese maple:

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TAGETES MARIGOLD (Tagetes spp.)

French: Oeillet d’Inde

Orange-yellow prints from petals; green from calices.

Traditional dye-pot plant

ECO PRINT: Tagetes on silk habotai with red cabbage (blues):

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TANSY  (Tanacetum vulgare)

French: Tanaisie, tanzé

(T.vulgare is the Euro intro; the native is Tanacetum huronense,  but rare.)
DYE COLOURS:  Yellow from tansy ‘buttons’; green from leaves

Tansy is a traditional dye-pot plant

PLANT: Tansy leaves (ferny ones, on the right)with elder (left) and black eyed susans (yellow):

ECO PRINT: Tansy (See also tansy buttons with the Japanese indigo, previous)

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TULIP (Tulipa spp.)
French: Tulipe

Aside: Thank you, Holland: Ottawans love their tulips! The Queen of the Netherlands took refuge in Ottawa during 1939 -1945 war and her daughter was born here. Afterwards, Holland sent millions of tulips every year to Canada as a thank-you. Ottawa has an annual Tulip Festival every May in celebration

DYE COLOURS: From various petal colours on paper: eco printed greens, teals, yellows, pinks, purples:

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Tulips on paper,  crazy colours from spent petals and black stamens:

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VIOLETS (Viola sp. )
Native: Viola canadensis (white), v. labradorica (purple-green leaves, blue flowers); V. pubescens (yellow), V. sororia (blue)

French: Violette

DYE COLOURS: Blue petals print teal green-blue on paper; heart-shaped leaves print green. The white ‘Canada violet’ prints yellow or yellow-green. To be honest, I am not quite sure what the name if this blue violet is – maybe V. sororia?

PLANT

ECO PRINT: Violet leaves and blooms on paper: teal colours from blue petals:

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VIRGINIA CREEPER (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

Native.

French: Vigne vièrge.

DYE COLOURS:: Berries give a fugitive blue-purple in an eco print; leaves, a wimpy yellow-green. Reported as fugitive in the traditional dye pot and even a no-show. Under investigation by your author. Iris Dulman, eco-printer extraordinaire and generous teacher, makes wonderful prints with this plant.

PLANT

ECO PRINT: Virginia creeper:

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BLACK WALNUT (Juglans nigra)
Native.
French: Noyer noir.

Black walnut is a traditional dye-pot plant, no mordant needed (it is a substantive dye)

DYE COLOURS: Fruit gives lasting browns from the green husks in fall; leaves, rich yellows in late summer, early fall

PLANT (leaves and nuts)

ECO PRINT: Walnut leaf on vintage linen: Juglans regia, actually, from Italy.

ECO PRINT: Black walnut (Juglans nigra) green husk: centre panel, on felted wool.
Blues and greens from Prunus virginiana, reds and oranges from coreopsis.

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WILLOW (Salix spp.)
Native. S. alba, s. nigra, etc. 

French: Saule spp.
DYE COLOURS: Yellowish-tan eco print without iron.

PLANT: 

ECO PRINT: Willow leaves on paper; dipped in iron water to darken the print.

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Epilogue:

Spring plants ready for eco printing on sumac-dyed (yellow) linen: