9 hours ago
The natural plant dye found in Tutankhamun's tomb
Felix Green used to be a textile designer but with a flowery twist, drawing botanical patterns for all types of clothing. Then, during Covid, he decided to do something different to pass the time and signed up for one of the RHS gardening courses. 'I never had any interest in gardening before. There was no plan,' he says. For a man without a plan, it's all worked out rather well. He is now, at the age of 42, one of the gardeners at Hever Castle in Kent where, a few years ago, he planted its first 'dye garden'.
'We are going to start with possibly the most interesting but also the ugliest plant,' he says, walking me down to the far end of the dye bed. There I meet the plant known as madder. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that it met me, its sticky leaves and stems not really wanting to let me go. It reminded me of cleavers, aka sticky willie, and indeed it belongs to the same family.
