![]() Early blooms giving the clearest yellows, the later straggler blooms giving more muddy hues.Īlas this year I made two fatal errors in my dye process. In past years I have noticed that the color you get shifts over the course of the bloom period. We went gathering back in May during the peak of the blossoming. It however has nasty thorns that deter me greatly from using it. Gorse, Ulex europaeus, also has a history of use as a dye, also has yellow flowers, and is also a noxious weed on the Oregon Coast. The whole branches sans blossoms can be used to make a very wash fast golden khaki color on cellulose. The blooms can be used to make vibrant yellows, and overdyed for lovely greens and oranges. The flowers are so abundant - the branches are dripping with blossoms - it is very easy to gather loads. The real reason I love broom, is that she generously provides dye. Is it Scotch Broom's fault that we planted it everywhere to stabilize soil in clearcuts in the 1930's? From popular to despised in just a few short decades. Weeds are generally simply plants growing in places where we wish they weren't. On the other hand broom is beloved by pollinators, and fixes nitrogen, which makes her a friend of the soil organisms. Scotch Broom is very resilient - her seeds can remain viable in soil for upwards of fifty years. I fear that efforts to curtail broom are as futile as keeping watch for raiders along the 72 mile long Hadrian's wall. Remember the wall built in 122 AD by the Romans to keep the Scots out of Roman Britain? Perhaps my attraction to Scotch broom is evidence of my Scots-Irish ancestry showing? Not to minimize it's capacity for take over - Broom is not the first fearsome thing to come out of Scotland. But I have to say I have kind of a soft spot for it. There is an ongoing concerted effort to rid the wild spaces of the Northwest of it, including in my neighborhood. For instance, Scotch Broom, Cytisus scoparius, has a terrible reputation in these parts.
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