On page 44 of her remarkable book Eco Colour, India Flint has a photo of "drying bundled goldenrod".
A whole armful of it!! What bounty.....
I have 3 plants, given me last year by my organics teacher and carefully split so if I happened
to lose one in a drought
or through neglect
or just because it disappeared never to be seen again under a rampant overgrowth of couchgrass
I would still have 2 others.
Which made me think about exactly what sort of a plant goldenrod is.
And how India managed to have such a lovely big bundle to dry.
My reading told me it is considered an invasive weed in China and Germany and that it is a perennial. That means it comes back each year without having to "do" anything about it.
But I also have the choice of waiting till my 3 precious plants seed, and then saving that seed for resowing in Spring....."Propagation is by wind-disseminated seeds ...."(Wikipedia - Goldenrod)
Better sharpen my spade, so I get a nice clean cut.
Knowing a little about plants has deepened my love of ecodyeing. There's magic and knowledge in their Latin taxonomic names - Solidago canadensis; Solidago virgaurea; Solidago spp and the clues names give to the properties of and even colours hidden in the plants.
Even if you only mutter them as a mantra to keep your brain stimulated and give you another tool of knowledge. Especially if like me, you have no Latin!!!!
India has a comprehensive section on pgs 49 - 64 labelled
"Some Traditional Dye Materials".
It's a great resource and she has included the common names and parts used.
