Dye Garden Dreams

I'm in a garden planning mode this week, after my hollyhock dye adventures from the weekend.  I usually plan and plant more than I can reasonably handle, not just in gardening, but in other aspects of my life.  So many dreams, so little time!  The weeds start getting ahead of me halfway through the season, and end up hiding ripe vegetables from my sight.

With these grandiose gardens in my head, here's five things I want to plant and use for dyeing:
1. Dyer's Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) (pictured above)
2. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius)
3. Dahlia (Dahlia sp.)
4. Woad (Isatis tinctoria)
5. Japanese Indigo (Persicaria tinctoria/Polygonum tinctorium)

I have had Coreopsis and Woad in my garden, and I let them go to seed to have more plants in the next year for dyeing.  Sadly, I got wrapped up in other things and forgot to watch for the seeds.  I hope they sprout on their own this year, and that I don't pull the seedlings, thinking they are weeds.