March Dye Plant of the Month: Rudbeckia, Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) by Janet Bare
Plant Family: Compositae (Sunflower Family)
Description: Annual, biennial or short-lived perennial herbs, 2-3 ft tall, with hirsute or hispid foliage. Ray flowers yellow, disk flowers brownish purple, appearing in summer and fall. Other species of Rudbeckia can also be used.
Origin and Current Range: Native to most of the U.S. and Canada.
Reproduction and Cultivation: Reproduces by seed. Annual varieties will bloom the first year, perennial Image from: varieties not until the second year. These plants grow in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudbeckia_hirta many kinds of soil, are easy to grow, and are often sown along roadsides as well as in gardens. The plants have no major insect pests. They are very competitive and may crowd out nearby plants. Water during dry periods.
Dye Color and Parts Used for Dye: Flowers, leaves and stems can be used to achieve olive green and gold colors in wools mordanted with alum (cream of tartar may be added also). Several online blogs show results that tend more toward very subtle gray-greens. Jenny Dean (ref. 3) recommends processing the plant materials for several days to get good results, i.e., deeper colors. Keep the flowers and herbage separate to achieve different ranges of color, using the flowers only or flowers and herbage together. The dyes can be post-modified with iron or copper, but apparently do not respond to alterations in pH.
Other Information: Butterflies, bees and a variety of other insects are attracted to these plants. Black-eyed Susan is one of the most popular wildflowers grown in gardens and is the state flower of Maryland. Native Americans used a tea or wash made from the roots to treat a variety of ailments, including worms, colds, sores, snakebite, swelling and earache. For a very entertaining account of who “Susan” may have been, how she may have been related to “Sweet William”, and why you might want to plant these two flowers together, check out this web site! http://www.americanmeadows.com/about-black-eyed-susans
Note to reader: Please see the following resources and annotations for significantly more details, illustrations, etc., than what I have summarized above.
References: 1. Buchanan, Rita. 1987. A Weaver’s Garden: Growing Plants for Natural Dyes and Fibers. Interweave Press.
2. Buchanan, Rita. 1995. A Dyer’s Garden: From Plant to Pot – Growing Dyes for Natural Fibers. Interweave Press.
3. Dean, Jenny. 2010 (revised and updated edition). Wild Color – The Complete Guide to Making and Using Natural Dyes. Watson-Guptil Publications.
4. Crochmal, Arnold and Connie. 1974. The Complete Illustrated Book of Dyes from Natural Sources. Doubleday & Company.
5. Reagan, Jeanie. 2003. Want Natural Color? Published by the author.
6. Allpaca Natural Dye Journal – Entry 2 – Continuing with Black-Eyed Susan. http://allpaca.org/2012/08/15/natural-dye-journal-entry-2-continuing-with-black-eyed- susan/
7. Southern Textiles blog: Black Eyed Susan. http://southerntextiles.org/2013/06/07/archives-natural-dye-journal-black-eyed- susan/
8. Threadborne web site: https://wendyfe.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/eco-dyeing-in-august- black-eyed-susans-coreopsis-and-carrot-tops/ [Includes examples of several kinds of silks, premordanted with alum, some modified with iron or copper at end of dyeing period.]
9. Wool – Tribulations of Hand Spinning and Herbal Dyeing blog: Making black-eyed susan dye from the plant to the wool. http://wooltribulations.blogspot.com/2014/08/making-black- eyed-susan-dye-from-plant.html
10. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service web site: http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=RUHI2 [Map of distribution in N. America]
11. USDA Ntural Resources Conservation Service. Black-Eyed Susan Plant Fact Sheet. http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_ruhi2.pdf [This document can be downloaded as a .pdf file or a .doc file. It includes a good overview of the plant’s characteristics and growing requirements.]
12. Museum of Osteopathic Medicine. Description of their 19th Century Medicinal Plant Garden exhibit. Date unknown. http://www.atsu.edu/museum/collections/pdfs/historicmedicinalplantgarden.pdf