Inspired by a post over at fog and swell and following some instructions found here, I decided to try my hand at dyeing with flowers found in my garden and on my table.

My garden is full of oriental poppies in full bloom.  These are wonderfully hardy plants and if I’m careful to remove the seedpods they come back in the fall for another round.  They’ve spread a bit through the garden which is wonderful.  The resulting color was quite purple – I chalk this up to the center of the flower, which although it looks black, is probably very dark blue.

The second batch of dye was made using petals from some lovely sunflowers given to me by my friend Wendy.  I waited until they were quite wilted so I was surprised at the amount of color that they had left in them.

Up next, dyeing with coffee grounds, lupines and rhododendrons and something green…  The rhodies are the only thing I can see making huge vats of dye from as they are abundant this time of year.  But I doubt you’ll see me using this method to dye yards and yards of silk in my driveway anytime soon.  I’ll still depend on my friend Tina, the mad scientist of fabric dyeing, for help with that particular method.