Medieval plant dyes (and modern)

As long as you have red, yellow and blue you can mix and match to make almost any colour. Some of these dye plants are more resistant to fading in sunlight or getting washed out of the fibre than others.

Any plant name that is in bold is a perennial (or biennial).

Red - 

Medieval European- Madder (Rubia tinctoria), Lady's Bedstraw/Cleavers (Galium verum)

Other- Amaranth (Hopi red dye), Dyer's Alkanet, Henna (Lawsonia inermis) (shrub), Joe Pye Weed, Dyer's Woodruff (Asperula tinctoria), Brazilwood (tree)

Orange - 

Medieval European- any yellow + Madder, or just Madder itself

Other- Dyer's Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), Orange Cosmos, Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldstrum') (edges into dull yellow)

Spring gardens up-springing

My angelica (left) and betony (right) are much happier in their new place in the yard. They are both forest plants and need a bit of shade and a bit of sun. It's too dark for many flowers and herbs in that area, but they're happier than ever.

Kale (the sprouts) and winter savoury (the herb with dark leaves at the top). I'll need to thin out the kale a bit eventually. I didn't expect the seeds to be so prolific after a couple years of hanging out in my seed box.

 My first garden from last year. I have a second row of lasagna garden to the right of it now. It's settling in and getting ready to be planted. (My birthday gift)

The blueberry bushes seem to have survived the minor depredations of a rabbit over the winter.

The flax is coming up nicely.

Meadowsweet (top) and horehound (front)

The sweet violets and strawberries are doing fine even though Stew the squirrel uprooted one.

Columbine

Columbine (left), beebalm (center), and beardtongue (bottom) are all well-loved by pollinators. They were part of my birthday gift. I was tired of having a barren wasteland of lawn out front. Going to the garden centre was part of my gift. I love the way it smells. I think the added oxygen in the atmosphere gives me a bit of a high, actually. Or, maybe I'm just kinda crazy and love plants that much...
It's been raining for the past week straight. Yesterday the sun finally came out, and it continues today, although it did go down below zero last night (Celsius not Farenheit). I'm hoping my plants did okay. I was so tired I forgot to cover them. Oops.

Bee balm

Beardtongue

Winding down for the winter

It's quite cold out there. There's something about damp air which ignores layers and insulation. And that lazy wind doesn't bother to go around... it just goes straight through.

But, my lasagne garden has some gorgeous, large worms in it now, and I uncovered a centipede (Chris called it a 'bazillopede' and got a bit squicked) whilst digging around. The soil is improving immensely. These are good signs. I have two composters digesting leaves and a bit of veggie scraps, but I don't want to put out much more than that because we seem to have rats. The green bin is for everything else. Thank goodness for that. I can feel less guilty about it.