I have to admit that this spring got away from me. It felt like January lasted a couple of years, and then one day I woke up and it was the end of April. So I whittled down the varieties of seedlings and just focused on some of my favorites. If you bought dye seedlings from me, you may have questions about how to care for them. Here are my growing notes, all in one place.Â
2026 Seedlings
Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)
Plant in full sun or partial shade
2.5' tall x 1.5" wide
My family has grown balsam at every house we've ever lived at. When I was younger, my aunt used the flowers and leaves to dye my fingernails a poppy-orange color. I don't think I've ever thought about caring for the plant; it just always was. It's a singularly carefree plant, happily self-sufficient, self-seeding, and unbothered by diseases or pests. It doesn't tolerate super dry weather so make sure to keep it watered during periods of drought.Â
Cotton (Gossypium barbadense)
Plant in full sun
2' tall x 2-3' wide
The variety I grew is called Pima Extra Long. Cotton plants are a little greedy--they need lots of sun, feedings, and regular watering. It can be grown in a large pot, as long as you feed it and make sure that the soil doesn't dry out. To feed my cotton, I use Osmocote fertilizer. The important thing about cotton is that it needs a long growing season (145 days) to develop bolls, so the sooner it's planted, the happier it'll be. In NJ, the only certainty about the weather is that it's unpredictable. If we have a long hot fall, the cotton will do great. If we have an early frost, that's the end of your cotton. But! Even if the plants are dead, you can continue to collect the unopened bolls and dry them out inside. As they dry, they'll continue to open.
Dyer's Chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria)
Plant in full sun
2' tall x 2-3' wide
This is a perennial plant, and once it's established, will be one of the most dependable growers in your garden. It does have a tendency to sprawl, but it's hard to be mad about it because it's such an easy and undemanding delight. Give it plenty of sun and keep an eye on it the first year to make sure it doesn't dry out in a drought, and it'll reward you with sunny little yellow flowers and leaves full of dye pigment. To keep the blooms coming all season, deadhead regularly. Which you would do anyway, to collect the flowers for dyeing.
Indigo (Persicaria tinctoria)
Plant in full sun
2-3' tall x 2' wide
The indigo I have for 2026 is persicaria tinctoria, a tropical indigo. It's a traditional Korean dye plant, with fields of it still growing in the southern region of Korea. It starts as such a tiny seedling but it's a vigorous plant. All it needs is sunshine and lots of water. It does well in the floodplains and I think it would be perfectly happy to grow in standing water. If your plant gets a little leggy, you can lay it down and sprinkle some soil over it to hold it down. Each node will produce a whole new stalk. As long as it doesn't have too much competition from weeds, it should reseed itself year after year.Â
Madder (Rubia tinctorum)
Plant in full sun or part shade
1' tall x 2' wide
To be honest, madder as a plant is pretty underwhelming. Its leaves are like velcro and it grows like a weedy-looking groundcover. The roots are the real prize here. I think that this year, I'll try to coax it to grow up a trellis. To its credit, it doesn't require much from you other than time. Unlike most other dye plants, it will even be happy in part-shade. In 3 years, its roots will be ready to harvest.Â
Scabiosa (Scabiosa atropurpurea)
Plant in full sun
2-3' tall x 1' wide
The Black Knight variety of scabiosa is a stunning flower with velvety deep purple petals in graduated sizes. It's not the most prolific bloomer, but regular deadheading helps. Each blossom is packed full of dye color. And the most remarkable thing about this scabiosa is that the color has respectable light- and wash-fastness.
Keep in mind that even if you don't follow all the recommendations, your plants will probably be fine. I don't follow my own recommendations! As hobbyists, the the joy is in the doing, not the product. And remember that there is always next year.
