Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) A perennial, domesticated varieties 1-2 feet tall(* it is my experience with this plant that it tends to be a ground creeper like thyme or oregano) with 2-3 inch lance shaped leaves and large pink blooms in panicles July through September.  Plant on 15 inch centers (* I used to plant this with my herbs because it seemed to repel bugs but it looks so similar –outside of bloom �?to oregano that I accidentally picked it for meatball seasoning one day and ruined the meat batch.  It really tastes like soap!)  Soapwort is not a dye plant but is planted in the dye garden for tradition’s sake –as the roots were used to make a soapy lather in which fabric was washed before dyeing.

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) An annual, to 3 feet tall bushy plants with toothed leaves and striking scarlet –orange- yellow thistle shaped flowers in summer.  Plant on 2 foor centers ( you may have to stake them)  The fresh or dried flowers yield yellow with alum;red with in an alkaline solution.  It is often called ‘poor man’s saffron.�?/P>

Goldenrod ( Solidago ‘Goldenmosa�?  A perennial to 3 feet with erect stems and handsome golden yellow plumes in August and September.   Plant of 2 foot centers.  The flowers and leaves yield yellow, gold, tan yellow-green, avocado, olive, green, bronze, brown, and khaki; yellow with alum; gold with chrome.  This much-maligned plant is not the source of hay fever (the real villain is ragweed).  It is one of the most attractive dye plants.  While Goldenmosa is suggested—try any one of the tall, domesticated varieties.* This is a plant well worth having in anyone’s garden—not only for its versatility in dyeing but because it contains so many medicinal properties that one’s herbal cupboard really cannot do without it (magically—it associated with divination and money).  This is the tall flower that can be found everywhere on roadsides and highway medians—but don’t pick it—it is illegal to do so in most if not all states where it grows—whether it grows wild or was planted by the highway depts.

Woad  ( Isatis tinctoria) A biennial, 3 feet tall in flower, with a basal rosette of 1 foot long blue green leaves and large panicles of cloud like yellow blooms in May and June, followed by clusters of black berries that can be used in dried arrangements.  Plant on 2-foot centers.  The young leaves—picked fresh and fermented, yield blue; mature leaves treated in the same manner yield blue black; weal solutions yield green.  The only temperature –climate source of blue dye, (tropical indigo also yields blue) Woad is indisputably the most stunning dye plant in flower.  It’s also one of the most historic, having been used by the Picts of England as a styptic for battle wounds, causing them to appear in what was taken by the disconcerted Roman invaders as war paint. (*Remember William Wallace?-- The Picts were of the area north of Carlisle—which is Scotland. I make this note only to clarify that the Picts were not considered of the area, which we would normally call England, before of shortly after Roman occupation.  In fact –The Celts of England considered the Picts ‘Barbarians of the North�?  The Romans aided the Celts in keeping out the ‘war painted�?Picts by building Hadrian’s wall)

St. John’s Wort ( Hypericum perforatum)  A perennial, to 2 feet tall, with yellow flowers in July and August. Plant on 2 foot centers.  The flowering tops yield yellow and gold; the whole plant yields yellow-green with alum; gold with chrome; bronze 4 with blue vitriol; yellow-green with iron and tin.

Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)  An annual 6 to 36 inches tall, with opposite, spear shaped leaves and double blooms to 7 inches across with quilled , pointed petals in white, pink, orange, red, green , purple, yellow and multiples, from summer through frost.  Plant one of the 1 ½ foot cultivars on 1 foot centers; remember to choose a color or colors compatible with the reds, yellows, and golds of the rest of the bed.  The flowers yield yellow with alum; bronze with chrome; bright gold with tin; gray green with iron; khaki with blue vitriol.

Calliopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)  An annual, 8- 48 inches tall with spindly needle like leaves and yellow, purple red, or bi color daisy like blooms summer through frost. Plant on 1 foot centers.  The fresh flowers yield bright yellow with alum; bright orange –yellow with tin; rusty orange with chrome and iron; dull rust with chrome and tin.