Matillija Poppy - Romneya coulteri

This is not a true poppy, but a large (up to 8' tall) bush native to California
and Mexico, with flowers that resemble fried eggs. The flowers are up to 9"wide
and have white 5 or 6 white petals, surrounding a cluster of yellow stamens
about 1" in diameter. They can be invasive, so be careful where you plant them.

From: Carol Todd [email protected]

COLORS
ALUM - YELLOW GREEN
COPPER - KHAKI (YELLOW-GREEN)
TIN - YELLOW
CHROME - PEA GREEN

LIGHTFASTNESS
ALUM - ?
COPPER - FAIR
TIN - EXCELLENT (color darkened)
CHROME - EXCELLENT

INGREDIENTS
13 oz. fresh leaves, gathered 8/30/98
3 1/3 oz. mordanted wool
Water to cover leaves

METHOD
1) Put leaves and pre-soaked yarn in pot and cover with water.
2) Cover pot, raise temperature on high to boil (about 25 minutes.)
3) Lower temperature and simmer 35 minutes longer
4) Cool.
5) Rinse.
6) Dry in shade.

Ratio 4:1 approx.

From: Carol Todd [email protected]

COLOR
TIN - BRIGHT YELLOW

LIGHTFASTNESS - not yet tested

INGREDIENTS
5 oz. fresh leaves stripped from stems, gathered 8/30/98
1 oz. mordanted wool
Water to cover leaves and wool

METHOD
1) Put leaves and pre-soaked yarn in pot and cover with water.
2) Cover pot, raise temperature to barely simmer, then gently simmer.
The whole process took 40 minutes.
3) Cool.
4) Rinse.
5) Dry in shade.

Ratio 5:1 approx.

Notes: I got a brighter yellow with this recipe. It could have been because I used a higher proportion of leaves to wool (5 to 1 instead of 4 to 1). Or because I used a lower temperature for the dye bath. Or because I simmered it for less time (40 minutes instead of 1 hour.) Or because I only had tin-mordanted wool in the dyepot, instead of combining 4 different mordanted wools in the dyepot. Definitely an area for experimentation.

I overdyed this with Indigo to get a lovely green.

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