These berries were from weeds pulled from my backyard and I have no idea what they are. Not having time to do anything with them before we left for vacation, I left them out to dry.
They now look like this.
This aren't the same kind of berries she used, but these results are inspiring.
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4 comments:
They are the berries from the Poke plant. The emerging shoots are edible early in spring, I've eaten them, but the mature plants and berries are mildly toxic. One of my favorite "weeds" for their beauty, but the birds spread the seeds extensively, and their agressive taproots are hard to dig out of the garden, so I have mixed feelings about them. I believe, but am not certain, that the colors produced from the berries are fugitive.
Poke is right, Sue is correct. Toxic yes, but pretty, don't know about dying with them? xox
Thanks for the identification. I've started looking into it and while it does appear the colors achieved from dyeing with them are fugitive, it may be possible to make them more permanent with certain additions.
I tried dyeing with poke berries once, but wasn't successful. It became a faded pink, but not as dark as one would have thought it would. Being inexperienced with natural dyeing, I am sure there is another approach to it.
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