Spring Journal: Behind the Spring ‘25 Wear Tinctorium Collection

Garments on the left dyed with reseda and printed with bidens aurea and coreopsis grandiflora. On the right dyed with ruiva tinctorum and then printed with wildflowers and wild fennel.

Spring is a season of emergence, of soft color and untamed resilience. Each year, the Spring collection is shaped by the wild plants many overlook—or worse, seek to eliminate. These so-called “weeds” erupt along roadsides and field edges, thriving despite our attempts to control them. This season, their quiet strength is joined by a powerful newcomer to the dye pots: homegrown madder root, bringing shades of pink, coral, and red into the studio for the first time.

Madder Root: Four Years in the Making

This spring, after four years of tending and waiting, it was finally time to harvest my madder plants. From 2.5 kilos of fresh roots, I dried down to just 800 grams—a small but precious yield, enough to dye 800 grams of fabric to a true red if used in full strength.

But madder, like spring itself, doesn’t have to shout to be powerful. When handled gently, madder reveals soft pinks, warm corals, and sunset oranges. With such a limited supply, I chose to lean into these spring-like tones. They feel truer to the season—fresh, tender, and quietly radiant.

The roots were harvested in February, carefully washed and scrubbed, chopped and hung in cloth bags above the fireplace to dry. By April and May, they were ready for the dye pots—where color slowly unfurled like blossoms in the sun.

The joy of this new palette inspired me to start 60 new madder plants this spring, nestled into 20 small pots. Next year, I’ll transplant them into larger containers, and in two more years, they too will be ready to offer their roots and colors.

SPRING WEEDS

• Wild fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)- a native, edible & medicinal, perennial shrub.

• Chrysanthemums (Glebionis coronaria)- native, annual wildflower most commonly known as 'wild daisy'.

• Coleostephus (Coleostephus myconis) - another native wildflower, also known as 'wild daisy'.

• Anacyclus (Anacyclus radiatus)- yet another native wildflower, also known commonly as 'wild daisy'.

• Bidens (Bidens aurea)- Invasive plant that spreads through rhizomes and is most often found in damp soils.

• Wild carrot (Torilis arvensis) - In the carrot family, but not the wild carrot. DO NOT CONFUSE with toxic lookalike poison hemlock.

• Tagueda (Dittrichia viscosa)- Native, perennial plant that is so common it's mostly overlooked.

• Coreopsis (Coreopsis grandiflora) - Exotic species (but not particularly disruptive to local ecosystems), so-referred to as 'escaped from cultivation'.

• Castor (Ricinus communis) - Invasive to Portugal and most known for it's cosmetic oil and the poison ricin produced in the seeds.

• Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) - My favorite geranium to print with. Only available near me in early spring. As soon as it gets hot, it goes away and then I must go to cooler locations (in Sintra for example) to collect them.

Silk Garments for Spring

Following the success of the naturally dyed wool jumpers in winter, I turned my attention to silk—a perfect companion for spring’s delicacy. I sourced a limited number of vintage silk dresses and button-down shirts, each chosen for their timeless beauty and softness.

Silk, with its natural affinity for botanical dyes, holds color in an almost luminous way. But it’s a challenging material: thin, slippery, and unfamiliar compared to cotton or wool. Drawing from my previous experiments with silk scarves, I created a small, intentional series of 100% silk garments that feel like true heirlooms of the season.

A Reflection on the Power of Weeds

The weeds I work with each spring are more than just plant material—they are a philosophy, a quiet rebellion. In a world obsessed with productivity and purpose, where we are expected to prove our worth to earn a place, weeds offer another way of being.

They exist unapologetically, blooming in cracks and forgotten spaces, not because someone planned for them to, but because they can. They don’t seek approval. They remind me that being alive, being here, is enough.

In a world where entire populations are dehumanized, displaced, and targeted by the same language we use to describe unwanted plants—invasive, illegal, a threat—it is in these spontaneous spring weeds that I find strength. Their survival is defiant, their beauty undeniable.

Learn from the weeds and don’t let yourself be tricked into accepting violence, war, manipulation, and escalation as essential to your safety. If we cannot feel safe without the extermination of something else, maybe we’re the problem.