Around here fresh flowers are a big hit. They spruce up the dining table, and in the gray, dreary PNW, add a splash of desperately-needed cheery color. We got some beautiful pink tulips last week. Well, that was last week, and you can guess how they look now.
As a fiber fanatic, I always wonder: can these flowers be used for dyeing? I put the pink petals and the deep purple, pollen-coated anthers into a little hot water, and muddled them with a spoon. The water turned the most gorgeous mushroomy, mysterious shade of browny-purple. I then realized that adding a mordant may change the color, and was necessary to set the color if I was to use this stuff to dye anything. To see what would happen, I added a little cider vinegar, and it turned this color!
- Beautiful hibiscus tea, strawberry-lemonade pink!
I like it. Next time I’ll have to get a few dozen to get enough to dye with though. Yowza!