Natural Dyes

Calendula officinalis 'Cut Flower Mix’ is a specially selected mix of colours and types, each with long stems designed for cutting. They grow to a height of around 70 to 80cm, are an excellent variety for borders and make a stunning cut flower. Clip spent flowers to achieve a longer blooming season.

Cheerful and bright, use Calendula in beds, borders or containers. Calendula is prolific and durable, and like most hardy annuals it is easy to grow, simply sow where it is to flower. It is currently one of the top herbs used for medicinal use. Sprinkle salads and decorate cakes with the edible tangy petals.

‘Indian Prince' has unique petals quite unlike other Calendula, the dark orange rays are in layers of orange, backed with rich mahogany red petals. Easily grown, sown direct in spring or in autumn, they are perfect candidates for cutting and flower arrangements.

Regarded as both a nutritious vegetable and curative medicinal, the Burdock root is widely used in all sorts of cuisines from the classic English summer drink to the classic Japanese 'Kinpira'. Seeds can be also sprouted like bean sprouts; nothing goes to waste with this plant.

This pretty little wildflower is a slow growing, long-lived plant with attractive spikes of rich pink-mauve flowers that are very attractive to bees and butterflies as a nectar source. The flowers, which rise from dark green crinkly leaves, keep their colour throughout summer and look stunning when growing en-masse.

Large and tasty heads of green buds have made Green Globe one of the most popular varieties of Artichoke. They are perennial plants and will produce more heads with each successive year. This old heirloom variety is a great delicacy, steam or boil and serve with melted lemon butter or hollandaise sauce.

Anthriscus sylvestris is most characteristic of hedgerows, road verges and woodland edges. Our native Cow Parsley has a sophisticated form, with delicate, open, white lacy umbels, that from mid-spring to early summer look as though they're erupting from a well shaken champagne bottle!

In horticulture Cota tinctoria is still widely referred to by its synonym Anthemis tinctoria. This beautiful aromatic, hardy perennial that is fast to flower and often used as a biennial produces masses of golden yellow daisies from June through to September. Historically used for natural dyeing, this is an ideal plant for naturalised and pollinator friendly plantings.

Anchusa italica is a wonderfully statuesque plant with vibrant, gentian blue flowers, dense foliage and lance shaped mid green leaves. 'Dropmore' is a 1905 selection that is still available today. They will thrive in a sunny border and make a great companion to rich plums and purple tones.

Alcea ficifolia is reliably perennial and unlike the biennial forms which produce a single spire, they produce many upright stems, resulting in a bushy form. ‘Happy Lights’ is a beautiful strain, a bold blend of white, pink, purple, red, and yellow blooms. If sown early they will bloom in their first year.

Achillea sibirica var. camtschatica 'Love Parade' is an upright, tufted, perennial yarrow that is native to Siberia. Very different from the common yarrow, with dense clusters of large flat-topped soft pink flowers and glossy, dark green, fern-like leaves, they remain attractive throughout the growing season.

These native wildflowers have clustered flower heads of tiny white flowers that from a distance look like little patches of snow resting on the grass. This famous herb is terrific as a wildflower clump in a blooming meadow, they are also a favourite for cut and dried flower arrangements.

Achillea millefolium 'Proa' is an improved yarrow, a selected form that is higher yielding, with higher essential oil content, better flower production, and the flowers are more uniformly white. Preferred by those who use yarrow medicinally.

Achilleas are traditional border flowers valued for their feathery foliage and striking flat, circular heads of flowers ‘F2 Summer Berries’ is a compact variety growing to only 60cm tall at maturity. This beautiful improved mixture includes the richer tones of red, cerise and pink in addition to many pastel shades.

Achillea ‘Colorado Mix’ is a compact variety growing to only 60cm tall at maturity. Flowering in warm shades of pink, red, yellow, white and apricot, the narrow fern-like foliage will soften your perennial border and the plants are suitable for pots or containers. The flowers are as gorgeous dried as they are fresh.

Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’ is a carefree and generously blooming perennial which requires little maintenance to create an explosion of late summer colour. The large, flat-topped clusters of vibrant, pink flowers with tiny white centers are irresistible to butterflies, and also make excellent cut flowers.