Recycling with daffy down dilly

When we were in the Lake District we noticed how far advanced some plants were in relation to here, where supposedly we have a milder climate. There were some however that were inexplicably 'behind ' us, most notably the daffodils. They were still out in full colour and I was thinking about this yesterday when I was pulping up all the waste paper I had left over from my recycled books. A quick search found the above. On the left is a piece of felt dyed with daffodil flowers and on the right some paper made from the same plant.

The camera has not picked up the colour very well but I can assure you that it is a lovely pale lemon colour and I know that natural dyeing is very popular around lots of blogs at the moment. I dyed this with daffodil flowers heated up in water to extract the dye. Once extracted I put in the felt with no mordant and simmered it for about an hour. I admit it is subtle and I doubt whether it would work on cotton or linen with the same effect but it's interesting to add daffodils to the extensive list of flowers that will offer dyers some beautiful colours. This sample is also about 4 or 5 years old and is colour and light fast. These days I rarely do natural dyeing as I find it anything but given the mordants we have to use.

If your daffodils have gone over perhaps you might think about making paper from the leaves and stalks? They can be used fresh or let to go brown. Either way you'll get some fabulous paper. There are plenty of recipes online but all will tell you to boil the material in an alkali solution. I use soda ash as I buy it in bulk but washing soda would also work. Cook the material until it goes soft and then rinse it to remove the soda. This can take a few rinses to work. I then blitz the material in a blender and place it into a vat of water. Using a mould you can either make sheets and stack them to dry or air dry them in the frame. I find air drying works best as the sheets shrink a little if you couch them down and press them. Of course they are not sized but they will take oil based printing inks and when I make it this year I'm going to experiment with it through the inkjet printer.

Holding it up to the light shows all the fibres and range of colours. I made this batch last year and it still smells like freshly picked material. If you've made paper before but not with plants why not give it a go. Plant papers are great fun. If you have a rhubarb patch that goes over and produces those mammoth stems, use those for paper too. It's beautifully pink and grainy. There's also celery and leeks and pampas grass.... I could go on (yes, I know I do...) but think about it and give it a whirl.